Broker Focus: Medical Malpractice

Hear what Michael Loeters from PROLINK has to say as he provides his professional insight into the benefits of protecting your clients against claims of Medical Malpractice:

"What Is Medical Malpractice Insurance?"

Michael Loeters (PROLINK): "Medical Malpractice is a type of Professional Liability insurance really. But what it is, is it's specifically designed for medical professionals. That could be doctors and it could also be a whole range of other types of healthcare providers. What a Medical Malpractice policy does is it protects you from an allegation from a patient of wrongful practices or wrongful services that were provided. This could be an allegation that something you did or some recommendation you made around a treatment caused your patient to incur additional physical injury, mental anguish, additional medical costs, etc and so that patient is now coming back to you and suing you saying that they're holding you responsible for doing that."

"Who Needs Medical Malpractice Insurance?"

ML: "It's really about understanding what that medical professional does, how they do it, what the unique risks are around what it is that they do and then insuring that whatever type of Medical Malpractice coverage you're putting in place for them is really appropriate for what it is that they do. The big thing I'll note around Medical Malpractice is a big misconception for a lot of healthcare professionals, that if they work in a hospital or a clinic that they are covered by the hospital or the clinic that they work for. A lot of them are actually surprised to know that they aren't, which is why a lot of them need to get their own coverage."

"What Trends Are There With Medical Malpractice Claims?"

ML: "There are a couple of key trends going on in Medical Malpractice. One is that I think the courts have held medical  professionals to an increasingly higher standard. The costs of awards have gone up dramatically which is why a lot of hospitals and clinics and healthcare professionals have really started to adhere more to the applications of best practices, increasing documentation, etc. And I would say the other major trend has really been the proliferation of other modalities of healthcare. Things like naturopath, homepath...those sorts of other alternative modalities have really increased in popularity, so there's been a real proliferation of practitioners in those particular areas as well and they've also come to realise that they could be sued just like anybody else and thus they also need that financial protection."          

You can browse our current range of Medical Malpractice products here.