Eyeworld

24 Ophthalmology Business • December 2016 gets out in the "real world" could be helpful, but Mr. Meadows said insurance agents are a good resource as well. "At a minimum of once per year when your insurance renews, your agent should do a full review with you. They should talk with you about any changes that may have occurred during the year in the practice. They should talk with you about what's going on in the marketplace. … They should do a review of your insurance program to be sure that you're aware of what you have, you're aware of what's out there as far as new risks and new policies, and also the fact that you're getting the best policy at the most competitive price for your situation and practice," Mr. Meadows said. Being proactive with one's agent is important as well. Bringing on a new doctor, acquiring new equip- ment, offering a new, potentially riskier procedure, for example, merit a conversation with your insurance agent. "All of those are times when you want to talk with your insurance agent, and they can let you know whether or not that's something that needs to be added to your policy or is something that's already covered," Mr. Meadows said. "Physicians want to practice medicine. What we want to do, as all agents do, is take care of the insur- ance part so they have more time to do that, but it's the physician who has to say, 'I need to take a look at this; I need to be educated on this,'" Mr. Meadows continued. "They need to realize that the last thing they want is to not have the requisite coverage that they need because then they're self-insuring, and any issues they have are going to come out of their pocket." OB Contact information Meadows: bmeadows@profrisk.com Qamar: Q@QVisionAZ.com you'll need a business owner's policy, which covers incidents like slips and falls and general liability situations. If your practice has high-tech equipment, you'll want to make sure you have that specifically insured up to its value. If you employ others, you'll need workers' compensation coverage and employee liability coverage for claims brought by an employee against the business. Where are physicians getting information about the types of insur- ance needed and available to them? Dr. Qamar said most pick it up gradu- ally and that, Mr. Meadows said, can be dangerous. "If you're learning on the job, what if you're [practicing] 6 months or a year and haven't learned yet about cyber liability exposure or medical defense exposure? You think you've got yourself covered and all of the sudden—bam. Because you weren't aware of that and you get a claim, you don't have coverage, and you're in a place where you don't want to be," Mr. Meadows said. A class or seminar in medical school or residency before a doctor "On the black market people will pay a lot more for medical records than they will for a social security number … or a credit card number," he continued. "That's because med- ical records have a lot of personal information about people, including name, address, social security, health care information, and so forth." For physicians who run solo or small practices and think they won't be the target of a cybercrime, Mr. Meadows said it's more common than you might think. "The vast majority of these cyber information-type claims are from disgruntled employees who leave the practice and take information with them and the next thing you know, it's out there on the internet," he said. "We see claims like that every day. It can be a real problem." Even if the practice is small, Mr. Meadows pointed out that it still has a lot of patients and could be a target. Back to basics Malpractice insurance is standard, if not required, to practice medicine, depending on the state, practice, or hospital setting. However, it is not unheard of for doctors to "go bare," assuming out-of-pocket financial re- sponsibility for claims that might be brought against them. Those going without malpractice coverage likely did so because of high premiums, but Mr. Meadows said this cost has gone down over the last 5 to 10 years. The reason? The incidence of new claims reported has not been increasing dramatically during that time, he said, and more carriers have decided to include medical malprac- tice offerings, creating more competi- tion and driving down the price. This has been a positive trend for physi- cians, Mr. Meadows said. There are other types of coverage that don't relate to the professional liability that practices should have. If you're leasing or renting a space, continued from page 23 Types of insurance options • Medical malpractice • Business liability • Umbrella liability • Property • Workers' compensation • Disability • Office overhead • Regulatory protection (medical defense) • Cyber liability • PCI DSS • Life insurance • Long-term care insurance

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