Pediatricians' young patients come with special liability risks
Pediatrics is not considered a high-risk specialty--according to Covered MD, only 33 percent of pediatricians are sued in the course of their careers. But when pediatricians are sued, the cases are often harder to defend because of the sympathy that jurors will have toward a young patient and his family. Luckily, almost 97 percent of doctors will be offered insurance coverage as an employment benefit when they join a new practice, according to the American College of Physicians. Nevertheless, there are some basic distinctions between insurance options with which all pediatricians should be familiar.
Claims-Made Insurance
Claims-made insurance, one of two basic kinds of malpractice insurance, will cover you only if the provider that insured you at the time of the alleged incident is still your provider when the case is filed in court. This type of insurance can pose a problem when pediatricians change jobs or practice locations, if they also switch insurance providers. To protect from a lapse in coverage, pediatricians can purchase what is called an insurance "tail," which is designed to smooth the transition between providers.
Occurrence-Made Insurance
Occurrence-made insurance is the most seamless of the two basic insurance options. Under this type of plan, a pediatrician's insurer will cover any alleged incidents while it was the provider, regardless of when the claim is filed in court. Occurrence-made options are becoming rarer, however, as insurance providers move to protect themselves against a surge in malpractice claims. A provider's potential costs are harder to predict under occurrence-based plans. In Pennsylvania, for example, insurance companies are either limiting such options they make available to doctors or transitioning their occurrence-made clients to claims-made policies, according to a 2005 article published in the Physicians News Digest.
Tail Insurance
Tail insurance covers alleged incidents that occurred while a doctor was insured with one provider after he or she has switched to another. This is an important consideration because doctors remain liable for past occurrences even after they have left a practice. Tail insurance is charged as a one-time assessment that can be as must as twice the price of an annual malpractice insurance premium, according to the American College of Physicians. These costs will often be covered by a new practice as a benefit of joining, or by the previous practice to protect the remaining doctors' group assets. If tail insurance is covered by a previous practice, however, it might come with the condition that the pediatrician agree to a non-compete clause that stipulates he or she will not practice in the same geographic area after she has left the practice.
Selecting a Provider
The American Medical Association warns doctors, including pediatricians, to carefully consider several factors when selecting a provider, and to avoid making the decision solely based on the cost of the premium. Included in the list of important considerations are: an insurer's financial stability, protections against an insurer's insolvency, an insurer's performance record and its process of handling claims.
Tags: according American, according American College, alleged incidents, American College, American College Physicians, College Physicians