How Medical Malpractice Insurance Protects Healthcare Companies
Are you the owner or operator of a business in the healthcare field? If so, you surely understand your company faces a wide variety of risks. One of them is the risk of mistakes by your team that lead to medical malpractice lawsuits.
How can you protect yourself from the potentially huge financial fallout from being sued for malpractice? You need medical malpractice insurance.
biBerk doesn’t cover doctors or surgeons, but we do offer medical malpractice insurance (also called errors and omissions or professional liability insurance) for many healthcare professionals. We also provide coverage for other incidents — employee injuries, visitor slip-and-fall incidents, property damage, and more.
Let’s explore the many benefits of having medical malpractice insurance and other crucial coverages.
Medical Malpractice Liability Insurance: Why Does My Business Need It?
Medical professionals typically have extensive training and experience. Still, they’re human, so they can (and do) make mistakes.
They might be trying to perform a complicated procedure when they’re tired late in a shift. Or, it may be an especially hectic day and they get distracted and misinterpret symptoms or care instructions. Whatever the reason for a mistake, it opens the door to your company being sued by the patient or their family. And it’s no surprise that medical malpractice lawsuits have the potential to generate enormous expenses, including settlements or court-awarded damages.
Also… don’t forget about your legal defense costs. They can be significant. Even if the patient's accusation is baseless, you have to defend your business until that determination is reached. Consequently, malpractice insurance for healthcare providers is essential from a financial protection perspective.
Then, there are insurance requirements your state or other entities might have for businesses like yours. If they say you’ve got to have medical malpractice insurance, it’s critical that you carry it. Failure to be adequately insured can result in fines, penalties, and other consequences. Why risk it, when medical malpractice is easy to obtain and affordable?
Which Healthcare Professions Need Medical Malpractice Insurance?
Some of the many healthcare companies, professions, and roles we insure include:
- In-home personal assistants, home health aides (no registered nurses), home health therapists, home infusion therapists, homemaker services, personal care assistants, private duty home care (no registered nurses), senior home care (no registered nurses)
- Audiologists and speech therapists (traveling and non-traveling)
- Physical therapists (non-traveling and traveling)
- Ambulance service companies and EMS professionals
- Dieticians and nutritionists
- Alcoholism counseling (no housing or medical treatment), applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapists (non-traveling and traveling), art therapists, behavioral health therapists (outpatient and traveling), drug addiction counseling (no housing or medical treatment), family therapists, hypnotherapists, hypnotists, marriage counseling services, marriage therapists, mental health counselors, psychologists (non-traveling), psychotherapists
- Laser hair removal and electrolysis professionals
- Assisted living facilities, blood banks, convalescent homes, cryobanks, healthcare management consulting, hospice care facilities (non-traveling and at client’s residence), long-term care facilities, medical spas, nursing care (non-traveling and traveling), nursing homes, retirement living centers (with or without registered nurses)
- Pharmaceutical consulting and sales
- Acupressure services and acupuncture therapists
- Biomedical research laboratories, dermatological labs (testing cosmetics), veterinary laboratory testing services, pharmaceutical research
- Nurse practitioners
- Animal hospitals, animal shelters, animal artificial insemination services, bee raising, horse shelters, veterinary hospitals, humane societies, veterinarians
- Chiropodists and chiropractors
Determining Your Medical Malpractice Insurance Cost
As indicated above, there are many specialties in the healthcare field. As a result, there’s no blanket answer to the question, “What does medical malpractice insurance cost?” A better question might be, “What will my company’s medical malpractice cost be?”
That one we can answer for you! We know how valuable your time is, so we enable you to get instant, online insurance quotes.
We also have licensed insurance experts who can answer any questions you have. But if you want to simply provide some details about your business on the biBerk website whenever it’s convenient, our system can review your information and provide a medical malpractice insurance policy quote. If you decide to buy a policy, you can complete that transaction online as well.
However, don’t let all of this self-help functionality make you think you won’t have access to world-class support. If you have questions about your purchase, want to modify your coverage later, or are sued and need help defending your company, we’re here for you!
Other Essential Small Business Insurance Policies for Healthcare Companies
In addition to medical malpractice insurance, your business can probably benefit from other coverages. Here are six insurance policies healthcare business owners should consider:
- Workers' compensation insurance helps protect your business if an employee is injured, contracts an illness, or dies as a result of an incident on the job. It can cover medical costs, legal fees, and lost wages due to the injury.
- General liability insurance covers damages and legal costs associated with injury claims by patients and other non-employees that are not related to the medical care or professional services you provide (slip-and-fall accidents, for example) and damage your business causes to other people's property. It also covers libel, slander, and copyright infringement. Plus, there are endorsements for cyberattacks, hired and non-owned auto liability, employment-related practices liability, and employee benefits liability.
- A business owners policy (BOP) combines general liability insurance with coverage for your company’s property. You get protection for the building you own or space you lease (in the event of storm damage, for example), as well as any property needed to run your business, while also receiving coverage for things like business interruption. This can replace lost income and also cover costs associated with getting your business back up and running after suffering property damage, such as the use of a temporary location. You can tailor your BOP with add-ons including cyber, hired and non-owned auto liability, employment-related practices liability, and employee benefits liability.
- Commercial auto insurance protects your business if you own or lease vehicles, such as those for non-emergency medical transport. It can cover your legal fees and the medical costs of others if your employee is at fault in an accident, even if the vehicle is used for personal activities outside of its primary business use. For example, it can help protect you if an employee driving your vehicle runs a red light and hits another driver. It can also cover damage to your vehicles.
- Cyber insurance is purchased as an add-on to a medical malpractice, BOP, or general liability policy. It helps cover costs related to system hacks or data security breaches in which sensitive information like credit card data has been stolen and fraud has occurred or there is a reasonable expectation that it might occur.
- Umbrella insurance provides an added layer of protection on top of another biBerk liability policy’s limits. It can cover costs that exceed the limit of the underlying policy up to its own limit.
Operate Your Healthcare Company With Confidence
Running a successful healthcare business and meeting patients’ needs requires clear thinking and, sometimes, fast decisions. You and your team shouldn’t be burdened with “what if” concerns about lawsuits.
As the owner, you also shouldn’t be worried about property damage and other incidents creating large unexpected expenses for your business. We’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen!
Medical malpractice insurance from biBerk provides the financial security and peace of mind you need to stay focused on your work. Take action today to protect your business.