In the past there has been a view that responsibility for patient outcomes rests solely with the doctors working in a practice and that responsibility for insurance similarly rests with doctors. In recent years there has been a shift in this view as the role of medical practices in the provision of services to doctors and patients has emerged. Contributing to this has been the emergence of multidisciplinary practices and staff at many levels playing a greater role in patient care.
This evolution of the practice structure and the manner in which healthcare services are provided across wider teams of medical and non-medical staff means that the risks that practices carry are greater than they have ever been.
As an insurer we see this change in the increasing numbers of enquiries, complaints and claims reported to us by medical practices over recent years. It is becoming more common for claims to be made solely against the medical practice or made jointly against the medical practice and doctors.
Whilst doctors must have medical indemnity insurance as a condition of registration, there is no statutory obligation for medical practices to have their own insurance, even though the risks and financial consequences of not being insured can be equally severe.
Insurance held by doctors is designed principally for the sole benefit of the doctor, whereas MIGA’s Healthcare Professional Indemnity Insurance Policy has been developed specifically to meet the needs of medical practices.
Some features of MIGA’s Healthcare Professional Indemnity Policy are:
- It covers the:
– medical practice for claims made against it for which it is legally liable
– the practice staff (other than doctors) for claims made against them arising from the services they provide in the conduct of their duties - It provides protection for a range of matters including allegations of breaches of privacy, mandatory data breach notifications, employment and contract and workplace disputes
- It includes access to 24 hour medico-legal and risk management advice at no additional cost
- You can select your limit of cover between $1 million and $20 million with an automatic reinstatement of the selected limit at no additional cost.
You can select your limit of cover between $1 million and $20 million with an automatic reinstatement of the selected limit at no additional cost.
The financial consequences of an uninsured claim can be devastating to any business and medical practices are not immune from such outcomes.
For further information or advice in relation to MIGA’s Healthcare Professional Indemnity insurance and how it can protect your practice, please contact us – we are here to help.
