As the endorsed carrier of the society for Hospital Medicine, The Doctors Company is developing a lot of specific knowledge and is thereby now able to pass on successful strategies to avoid claims. The Doctors Company with its 75,000 member physicians can study claims trends in order to help their physician policyholders.
Risk Management in Hospitalist Medicine:
Recently in The Doctors Company quarterly newsletter called The Advocate, they provided an analysis of hospitalist claims. Because of the number of doctors insured, they have a wide base of extensive data which allows them to study and share information in the interest of practicing better medicine. When a society endorses The Doctors Company one of the commitments The Doctors Company makes is to discuss procedures, techniques, treatments, and technology that can help avoid injury and contribute to the practice of better medicine.
Trends causing claims in Hospitalist Medicine:
Close to 500 hospitalist claims were studied over the last seven years. Over 2,000 hospitalists are insured by The Doctors Company and in the study of 500 claims in which hospitalists are named as a defendant 78% of the claims were due to either a diagnosis error, improper management of treatment, or medical-medication related error. Diagnosis-related errors are categorized as the patient condition incorrectly diagnosed or substantial delays in diagnosis which contribute directly to the damage or injury.
The majority of hospitalist doctor claims:
Of the 36 percent of claims that are incorrectly diagnosed, almost all of them results from inadequate initial assessment ...with decrease is the chance that the doctor, the hospitalist will arrive at the right treatment.
Medication errors are common throughout every specialty. In hospitalist medicine this allegation was brought up in situations of sepsis or infection which resulted in a loss of limb from lack of antibiotics or other failures excessive doses of drugs.
Improper management is related to decisions about the care after the diagnosis.
The Doctors Company Risk Management tools for Hospitalists:
At the doctors.com there are many resources available to help hospitalist medical groups practice better medicine by learning from the causes of claims. The practice and the specialty of hospitalist is still evolving and they are learning so much my studying trends in claims; failure to monitor physiologic status, failure to treat improper or delayed performance, bad communication when handing off patients….all contribute to claims. And The Doctors Company is on the front lines studying these claims. The Doctors Insurance Agency is proud of their representation of this innovative insurance company within this relatively new specialty.
By working with our experienced underwriters we can develop policies that make it easy for the hospitalist administrators to manage the policy the premium scales efficiently, economically and corresponding to the actual risk of the practice of medicine.
How to Price and Structure a Hospitalist Liability Insurance Policy:
Things to consider when you are pricing a Hospitalist Malpractice Policy are whether or not it was provided when doctors cancel and whether or not retroactive coverage can be offered when you're recruiting positions from out of state.