Medical malpractice suits are nothing to joke about. Your financial and professional reputation as a medical provider could be on the line.
You want to take all necessary steps to protect your practice from malpractice allegations. A great way to protect your assets is to make sure that you have medical malpractice insurance.
The law in most areas requires malpractice insurance. However, you might wonder about covering your practice as thoroughly as possible. Who in your office could face malpractice challenges? Who does a malpractice plan cover? Are there exclusions?
You should always know who and what your malpractice insurance covers. Better yet, you should know who isn’t covered, and how they should be.
Employees
You might ask if everyone, even those who don’t perform medical services, should have malpractice coverage? Generally, the answer is yes.
Often, lawsuits can hold employers responsible for actions of their employees. Even a mishandled chart by office staff could make the case for a malpractice suit. Malpractice insurance usually covers most of the employees of a medical practice, regardless of duties.
A malpractice liability policy will generally cover you as the practice's owner. A single physician's policy may also cover nurses and other staff.
However, who is included on a single policy can vary. Certain staff may have to get separate malpractice coverage. Some policies only cover one person, while others cover groups.
Other physicians in your practice usually have to have their own policies. Special practitioners like midwifes and physician assistants may also need separate policies. Staff might also be advised to carry extra, non-medical liability coverage for added protections.
The differences in policy will also likely impact premiums only minimally.
The Entity Itself
You also need to make sure that malpractice insurance extends over the practice itself. In other words, make sure it doesn't extend only to employees. You can usually bundle your entity coverage and your physician coverage if you have a solo policy.
Sometimes, it works out to cover individual physicians and the entity separately. This usually is the case in group practices.
Medical malpractice insurance will usually cover you and your employees. However, you should always verify that both the entity and all of its employees have coverage. This can keep your practice from falling into gaps that could put you at great risks.
We have valuable resources available to help you choose the policy that is best for you. Do you have questions about your malpractice insurance coverage? Call us today at (908) 654-6464.