Lack of expertise and knowledge leads to risks

19-09-2013

Healthcare organizations are being put at risk because healthcare staff are often being given information, education, and resources by companies with no specialist knowledge in the relevant medical fields.

That is the view of Mary-Lou Misrahy, CEO of Experix, a company that specialises in medical education, risk management consulting and third-party claims administration. The company has recently signed two contracts to supply its third-party claims administration services in Washington State along with new courses in its library of ACCME-accredited continuing medical education courses.

Most physicians, clinics, and hospitals rely on their professional liability insurer for risk management consulting and education, or they use in-house resources. "We found that these physicians, clinics, and hospitals were not always getting targeted information, education, and resources," said Misrahy.

“They've had to rely on information from companies that didn't specialize in medical professional liability, or from hard-working but inadequately resourced internal teams,” she said. “All this has put many medical practices and hospitals at greater risk from a lack of deep expertise and industry knowledge.

Experix is a wholly owned subsidiary of Physicians Insurance A Mutual Company. This connection enables every Experix risk management and claims-processing service to be informed by Physicians Insurance's 30-year history of award-winning risk management consulting and education and its data-driven claims administration, Misrahy said.

Experix also provides accredited continuing medical education via live seminars and online. "After researching the market, we noticed some gaps in what physicians needed – most notably specialty-specific education," noted Misrahy.

"We're absolutely going to offer the foundational content, but also make sure that specialists have the targeted information they need."

Misrahy noted the company's recent national launch of courses on topics such as social media in medical practices and Dr. Steven Clark's groundbreaking work in category II fetal heart rate management.

Said Misrahy: "Physicians, clinics, and hospitals are constantly working to improve the practice of medicine. They're positively impacting patient health and safety, lowering claims frequencies, and decreasing losses. Experix is going to be an essential tool in their box of resources."



Mary-Lou Misrahy, Experix, medical education, risk management