When buying medical malpractice coverage, risk managers need to take care to ensure that the breadth of the contract is right for the organization; the structure of the program optimizes risk retention and risk transfer levels, and the cost of the program reflects the value of the insurance purchased.
That is the view of Kevin Junod, executive vice president, healthcare industry practice leader for Lockton. In an exclusive interview in the latest edition of Healthcare Risk Management Review he emphasises the importance of scrutinising whatever cover is in place.
“Risk managers and CFOs must revisit and often modify their risk financing programs in order to optimize their risk retention and risk transfer levels, as well as re-examine capital deployment related to current and past insurance and self-insurance programs,” he said.
He added that the risk manager’s starting point is to find a broker who is focused on the health care industry sector and who can be trusted to provide expert, independent analysis and consultation. “This is not an area for generalists,” he said.
Other issues highlighted in the feature include the proliferation of physician employment and the resulting issues that arise in the due diligence process: practice risk assessment, addressing the handling of tail liabilities, and the impact on go-forward risk financing programs.
Junod also discusses his view that health care reform will transform hospital and physician organizations from being the providers of care, to serving as the managers of health.
“Accountable Care Organizations will be the primary vehicle for contracting for these endeavours, and we expect to see healthcare organizations of all types provide more community outreach and education as they attempt to manage population health,” he said. “Hence, future liability claims may not be framed as arising from the provision of “medical services” as defined in current insurance policies.”
Read the full interview in the latest edition of Healthcare Risk Management Review, out April 21.
Risk managers, med mal, insurance, medical malpractice, risk retention, risk transfer
