Practice Management Medical Professional Liability Insurance Limiting Cost While Maximizing Value Urgent message: Liability insurance premiums continue to rise across the spectrum of medical practice environments. Urgent care practitioners can maximize the value of every premium dollar spent by understanding whom and what the policy actually covers. Terrence P. Coughlin, CPCU, ARM, AIC ne of the more important and costly aspects of running an urgent care center is the insur- ance coverage needed to pro- tect the center and the med- ical staff working there. In recent years, all medical facilities have been hit hard by rising medical professional liability insurance premiums; in many cases, these higher premiums are coupled with increases in deductibles or self- insured retentions and new restric- tive exclusions. And yet, how many of these same facilities have actu- ally researched how to minimize those increases; how to transfer the financial responsibility to the correct party; which exclusions apply, and how those exclusions might affect their coverage? And is there a staff member with the expertise to negotiate and understand what the practice is purchasing? Medical professional liability is not just about limits and premiums. An urgent care practice can maximize the benefit of the premium dollars being spent by carefully examining and fine-tuning the professional liability/medical mal- practice insurance program (not just the policy). The importance of knowing whom and what the insurance program is cover- ing cannot be over-emphasized. O 32 JUCM T h e J o u r n a l o f U r g e n t C a r e M e d i c i n e | M a r c h 2 0 0 7 Key Questions © Jose Luis Pelaez, Inc./Blend Images/Corbis There are too many nuances to med- ical malpractice insurance to address them all here, but this article will take a look at some of the major issues. First let’s look at the key questions regarding the individuals to be insured: Ⅲ Are they independent contractors or employees? Full or part time? Do they already carry medical liability under their own name, or under a different organization? Do they need to be listed (and paid for) under your policy? Do you have residents working at the facility? Is there a contract with another organization (educa- tional institution, hospital etc.) that requires them to insure and indemnify your clinic for those residents? Is your current carrier aware of these relationships and any “hold harmless” agreements? Have you asked for, saved, and submitted copies of certificates of insurance for those medical profes- Ⅲ Ⅲ Ⅲ Ⅲ Ⅲ Ⅲ w w w. j u c m . c o m