Very often I am asked by physicians, office managers, hospital administrators, and group representatives, “How can I lower my premium?” It also regularly surprises me how many of these people are not taking full advantage of the available discounts. Most already know about the claims free discounts and group discounts. Some even know about the board certification discount and the additional double board certification discount. The most often overlooked discount is the Risk Management Discount….
Choosing the best fit for your Medical Malpractice Insurance coverage is one of the most important decisions that a Physician will make for his/her medical practice. There are many options available and they can vary greatly in policy coverage, form, and premium from Carrier to Carrier and State to State. Items that should be addressed and examined on an annual basis include: Differences in insurance company structure and the regulations under which carriers operate “Admitted”…
Claims-made policies are the most common type of policy issued today. These policies allow insurance companies to issue more accurate rates, usually at a lower cost to the physician, based on the amount of exposure the insurer is covering. At one point, occurrence policies were the norm. However, as malpractice claims dramatically increased, insurance companies had a difficult time trying to predict how much to collect in premium to cover future payouts. That poses two…
Medical malpractice insurance is a major expense for physicians in private practice. Naturally, it makes sense to manage this expense to increase profit for your practice. Though if you are a physician or practice manager who has doubted the quality of an insurance company based on the lower premiums they provide, you are not alone. The last thing you should do is choose an insurance policy based solely on a low premium, only to find…
Uncertainty surrounding the Affordable Care Act and continuing changes in the delivery of healthcare are of significant concern for physicians. Doctors across the country are examining the healthcare environment and taking steps to prepare for the impact that this anticipated change will have on their practices. As a result, many are looking for ways to reduce overhead costs while maintaining the core value of their practice – patient care. Medical malpractice insurance represents a significant…
The 2015 Medical Malpractice Payout Analysis has been released and is available here. As a service to our clients and all physicians nation-wide, Diederich Healthcare has done an analysis of the medical malpractice payouts in 2012 as recorded by the National Practitioner Data Bank. Taking the data from the NPDB’s records, statistics were selected that will be both interesting and timely to doctors and all other medical professionals. At the beginning of the infographic there…
On January 18th, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services released their final ruling on modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules. These rulings will affect the way in which an individual’s health information is shared and will identify the consequences when there has been a breach of privacy. While the law has been less defined in the past, it will now be much more highly regulated through these provisions….
This article is part of a series: Part 2 Part 3 Medical practices and the delivery of healthcare are adapting to accommodate current and imminent changes in the patient population, the health coverage available to the patient population, and reimbursement models resulting from the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA’s creation of a dramatic and possibly overwhelming influx of new patients with access to healthcare is one of the base forces causing physicians to…
With the New Year quickly approaching, many patients will need to make resolutions to lose weight, be more health conscious, and even initiate a workout program based their physician’s recommendation. And recommendations of life style changes to patients more or less falls in line with death and taxes. It is a professional necessity. With that said, there is a new ally for healthcare professionals to embrace – health apps, the one two punch of Smartphone’s…
Will a Low Risk Medical Specialty career choice lower your chance of being involved in a malpractice claim? The obvious answer is yes. The question is by how much. A study by the New Journal of Medicine (August 2011) found there to be a great deviation. In the sample pool of over 40,000 physicians, the study found that high-risk specialties such as neurosurgery and OB/GYN had a 99% chance of being involved in a malpractice…
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