Medical Malpractice Insurance Tail Policies
- By The David Agency MedMal Insurance
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- 03 Apr, 2018
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They Really Need To Start Teaching This Stuff In Medical School
• The David Agency has been helping medical providers manage risks for over 43 years. We specialize in providing TAIL Insurance quotes for physicians, medical practice owners and medical personnel.
• Experience counts. If you received a TAIL quote and want to shop the market, please contact us. We have access to over 100 companies that offer STAND-ALONE-TAIL quotes.
• Team of Professionals.
If you do have a claim made against you, your David Agency rep will help you navigate the claim process and act as your advocate to the insurance company.
Over the years, I have been very lucky to be able to offer medical malpractice insurance advice to new physicians and caregivers. Unfortunately, they do not teach medical providers about medical malpractice insurance in medical school. Medical malpractice insurance is very different from other types of insurance that we buy on a regular basis so it is important for new practitioners to understand how these policies work.
A TAIL policy is unique to a professional liability insurance policy and specifically a CLAIMS-MADE policy. As long as you are covered under a CLAIMS-MADE policy, and a claim is made against you for something you did while practicing under that policy, you would be covered. But what if you find a new job or you are getting ready to retire? Would you still be covered if, a few years from now, a claim is made against you. If you purchased* a tail when you canceled the CLAIMS-MADE policy, then yes you would be covered.
So what's the big deal you are probably thinking? I quit my job, I buy the tail and off I go to the next chapter in my life. Well, you may feel that buying a tail is no big deal until you see the quote from your current insurance company. Because the insurance company is committing to cover you in a future claim, and the premium payment is a one-time payment, that TAIL quote is going to be at least TWICE what you are currently paying for coverage.
Because TAIL policies are so expensive some insurance companies have started to offer STAND-ALONE-TAIL policies. You don't have to purchase a TAIL form the incumbent insurance company and you can save money by choosing a shorter duration TAIL or a TAIL with a deductible. But beware, many new start-up insurance companies and risk retention groups (RRG) have entered the market and are offering STAND-ALONE-TAIL coverage. Because a lot of these companies are not heavily regulated, they may not have adequate cash reserves to survive.** Only consider buying a STAND-ALONE-TAIL from a company with an A-Rating from AMBEST.
This is quick primer, if you have any questions regarding your tail options please give us a call or send us an email.
*Most insurance companies offer retiring physicians a free tail but be sure to ask your broker if you qualify.
** Several national RRG's and medmal companies have recently gone bankrupt and many more are unstable.
When it comes to choosing a pediatrician for your children, it’s not as simple as doing a quick Google search. After all, your child’s doctor will help you through everything, from those first worrisome newborn months through the uncertain teenage years, and everything in between.
As a doctor, you already know you’re living in a competitive space; with hundreds of local options for parents to choose from, how do stand out? And more importantly, are you overlooking the powerful and often untapped potential of growing and marketing your physician practice? How, you may ask?
Simple. Through moms.
That’s right, not only do moms hold power within their households and families, but they hold the ultimate answers you’re looking for. If you don’t know how moms are choosing their pediatricians, how can you market to them?
While everyone else is gearing up for fun, festivities, and the much-needed downtime the holidays bring, as a medical practice owner, the holidays often mean longer hours, from winter sickness to pampering yourself at a medspa. It’s time to bring in the holiday cheer to your practice, making it a warm, inviting environment for both staff and patients alike.
You can decorate your office seasonally around the holidays without excluding or offending those who don’t participate in certain holidays; all you have to do is check out these 7 tips to make your medical practice or medspa holiday-ready with affordable seasonal decorating.
1. Decorate with fruit: from fresh fruit to sparkling faux produce, decorating with bowls of fruit is a great way to bring in some color and texture in seasonal hues. Be sure to bring in some pumpkins, cabbages, gourds, or pinecones for the cooler seasons.
If you have decided that a captive is the right answer for your medical practice, the first thing to do is seek out professionals and advisers that have the necessary legal, actuarial and accounting experience to guide you. The David Agency has been working with individuals and medical practice owners to set-up Captives for over 25 years. Please contact us if you have any questions or would like to explore setting up your own captive insurance program. Here is a quick primer to help get you thinking about setting up a captive insurance company and what you should consider:
1. Where Will My Captive Be Domiciled?
You will need to select between an onshore (within 50 States) or offshore (outside the US) domicile. Consider the regulatory environment and quality of support services available. It is recommended that you visit the domicile before you commit to setting up your captive there.
2. How Do I Find The Right Partners?
Along with finding the right domicile, you must make sure that you partner with the right groups. Your David Agency Specialist can introduce you to actuaries, attorneys, tax-preparers and US-Based Insurance Agencies that have experience setting-up and running Captives.
3. Does My Company Have What It Takes To Start A Captive?
Captives are operating insurance companies so they must receive funds immediately and invest those funds in a prudent manner so they are available to pay claims. A Captive that is improperly run can cost the business substantially. Owners need to know the financial health of the Captive and audit regularly.
As you may have suspected, Xiaoyi is not your typical medical student. Instead, "she" is a robot designed to use artificial intelligence to learn the practice of medicine and deliver care in a clinical setting. Xiaoyi is programmed with the ability to learn, reason and make independent judgements. And, while she may not be ready to open her own practice, that day is on the horizon.
But before we panic and start calling for the destruction of Skynet (Sorry for the geeky SciFi reference) let's take a moment to think about how this new technology will be introduced to the medical community and what effects we'll see in the months and years ahead. At this point, Xiaoyi is just helping doctors by making suggestions and offering options for providing care.
Robots are probably NOT going to take over the role of the Primary Care Physician any time soon. Patients are not ready or eager to receive all their medical care from robots just as they are not ready to take their hands off the steering wheel and let their car take over driving duties. Baby steps. But what we are seeing is software that assists caregivers with their decision-making and provides a second set of "eyes" to back up the humans.
So if you are currently in medical school and worried that the robots are coming for your job, rest assured that you've got plenty of time to earn a great living practicing medicine and delivering care to patients, but you may want to take a few programming classes in the evening, just to be safe.
