Having just worked with an Orthopedic Surgeon who is not able to leave his current 'Insurer' (in quotes because this 'insurer' is not that...This is a Trust....and when there is an unresolved and known Incident while you are held in contract with a Trust, you are not free to leave. You are, in short under insured, and under represented in the marketplace. 'There ought to be more flexibility', he cried (honestly, It is always a shock when it comes time to completing the applications and the physicians learn that they cannot market their risk to the other carriers. I mention this because, this physician deprived of the opportunity to reduce his malpractice insurance costs, in a surgical specialty where it is so vital to have the best and most competitive premium.
Additionally, this surgeon was left out of the Doctors'Company/Lloyd's of London partnership to offer the other four important insurance products. Lloyds, unbeknownst to many who are outside of the insurance world, is one of the real innovators in specialty risk. The Doctors Company Innovates and changes and expands the idea of what is insurable, wheer it is insured and how to better deliver the care so that it is safe for patients. As seemingly unrelated as it may be, the billing, breach, business and boss insurance policies can provide the peace of mind to a small business owner, physician so that they can put their energies into their practice, into serving patients.
This Trust organization, with their super restrictive claims paid policy, does not allow doctors to switch to The Doctors Company because the company will abandon the claim if there is any knowledge of one, one that is not resolved and paid and signed and sealed. Since their is a four to five year gap between the time a physician is aware of the outcome or injury and the time the check is written by the insurance company, the physicians are essentially, permanently held hostage. And this is where the real restrictions to covering the practice take place...The discounted ancillary lines of insurance, Directors and officers insurance, which covers the business decisions of the owners/shareholder doctors, the employment practices liability (boss insurance) protects the practice from claims brought against it from employees or third party hospital workers interacting with physicians, from the billing and breach insurance policies, protecting our doctors at discounted premiums from the damages and fines of data breach or electronic medical records compromised and from the chances of a costly and business challenging billing inquiry initiated by the government. CMS is on a mission to pay for healthcare reform, andd one method of paying is to audit and audit physicians' practices until enough coding errors are found to extrapolate the charges and increase the upcoding fine.
By preventing physicians from joining The Doctors Company for less expensive medical malpractice insurance, these Trust Companies are restricting the access to less expensive peace of mind business liability insurance products brought to market through the unique partnership of The Doctors Insurance Agency, representing TDC and working with Lloyd's of London.