As the sponsored medical malpractice insurance provider of the Society for Hospital Medicine (SHM), The Doctors’ Company can (working with The Doctors’ Insurance Agency) write affordable medical malpractice insurance providers for physicians who still may have a private practice and need coverage for part time ‘independent contractor’ work as a Hospitalist.
If the hospitalist is employed (or a shareholder) in the Hospitalist group, than it is important to consider the best way to cover the group. Hospitalist groups can save thousands by carefully writing a policy (working closely with underwriting to include a ‘rolling tail’ provision in the policy).
Here are three important factors to consider when comparing policies:
- There are two types of policies out there: "Claims-Made" and "Occurrence Form." Occurrence form provides better protection because you're covered even if your policy has lapsed, as long as you had the policy when the actual incident occurred. It is very common for lawsuits to be filed years after the incident occurred! Claims-made coverage only protects you if your policy is valid when the claim is made. Claims-Made policies are generally more affordable than Occurrence policies but do require a tail premium upon cancellation.
Check that the policy includes the following: general (also called slip-and-fall), cyber liability, administrative (billing fraud audits) and professional (also called malpractice in medical fields).
- Check whether the policy limits are defined by a "Master Shared Aggregate" or an "Individual Aggregate." Shared aggregate means that the policy limit is shared annually among all the group's policy holders, so each time another policy holder files a claim and gets an insurance payout, that amount is subtracted from the amount available to you. Individual policy limits mean the actual amount of money stated in the policy aggregate is yours alone. (also important to consider whether the expenses to defend diminish the policy limit amount or whether those expenses are outside (and do not diminish the policy.
We're confident that The Doctors’ Insurance Agency can work successfully with your hospitalist organization to save you premium and improve the coverage whether for the group of for your individual physicians.