If you’re looking for locum tenens insurance in Palm Beach, look no further than CLS Healthcare Liability Specialists. Our company has been given the award of #1 Writer of Locum Tenens Staffing Companies, an honor which our company works hard to uphold by offering exemplary customer service and a diverse range of locum tenens insurance solutions. With three decades of med-mal industry experience and as the largest writer of locum tenens insurance policies in the U.S., you can count on CLS Healthcare Liability Specialists to find the policy you need at an attractive rate.

Our affordable malpractice insurance for locum tenens staffing companies and individual locum tenens physicians includes blanket additional insurance coverage, defense costs outside available limits, and non-auditable flat premium policies. Since our carrier is approved in every state in the U.S. and in 200 countries, and has six billion in assets, you can rest assured you’re purchasing a policy you can count on. When it’s time to look for locum tenens insurance, we’ll be happy to provide you with a quote at no charge.

Many healthcare providers dread the day they might receive a notice of misrepresentation from a disgruntled patient’s attorney. It’s essential to have healthcare liability insurance in Palm Beach. However, while affordable malpractice insurance such as medical staffing insurance protects you from liability in the event of a lawsuit , the overall costs of medical malpractice to the U.S. economy are staggering.

When you watch this video from CNN, you’ll hear two experts debating the merits of medical malpractice caps and discussing the pitfalls of defensive medicine. While medical malpractice payouts equal approximately $1.4 billion each year, defensive medicine has been shown to cost the U.S. economy far more in unnecessary medical expenditures. This video serves as a good reminder of the importance of regularly reviewing your healthcare liability insurance policy to ensure adequate coverage.

If you’re entering a new practice, you may be offered professional liability insurance as part of your benefits package. However, it’s well worth your time to scrutinize exactly what that policy covers. In the majority of cases, healthcare liability insurance offered as an employment benefit is claims-made coverage, which only protects you in the event that the same insurance company covered you at the time of the alleged incident and at the time the lawsuit was filed. If you are interested in more comprehensive healthcare liability insurance in Palm Beach, you may wish to take out an occurrence-made insurance policy.

Hear more about the different types of affordable malpractice insurance by watching this video. This certified financial planner explains the benefits of obtaining claims-made and occurrence-made insurance policies, and discusses the situations in which “tail” insurance can be helpful.

Often, physicians are responsible for purchasing their own healthcare liability insurance, which is one reason why so many have considered applying for locum tenens positions. With a locum tenens position, the placement company is almost always responsible for providing locum tenens insurance in Palm Beach. In some cases, the healthcare facility that is engaging the locum tenens provides the coverage. If you’re considering applying to a locum tenens company, it’s imperative to read the fine print before you sign any agreement. Not only will you need to make sure that you understand the terms of your engagement, your cancellation clause, and other provisions, but you must also make sure that the placement agency provides exceptional locum tenens insurance .

Understanding Claims-Made Coverage
Locum tenens placement companies often offer claims-made hospital malpractice insurance. These policies provide coverage for physicians in the event that an incident both occurred and was reported within the active period. This means that if the policy extends to February 1, 2015 and an incident was not reported until February 2, 2015, coverage is not provided. Generally, claims-made coverage is somewhat riskier for locum tenens physicians, given the short-term duration of the engagement and given that the placement agency, not the physician, is in control of the policy renewal.

Evaluating Occurrence-Made Coverage
Many locum tenens physicians prefer to apply to placement agencies that offer occurrence-made coverage, which provides more comprehensive protection. With this type of locum tenens insurance, the physician is covered for all alleged incidents that occurred within the active period of the policy, regardless of when the claim is filed. This means that even if the healthcare liability insurance coverage expires on June 1, 2015, and an incident that occurred months earlier is not reported until June 1, 2016, the policy still provides coverage.

Purchasing “Tail” Insurance
Even when a locum tenens placement agency provides claims-made coverage, physicians can obtain additional protection if the contract includes a provision for the purchase of “tail” insurance. Purchasing “tail” insurance with a coverage period of at least two years is preferable, given that the typical medical malpractice statute of limitations is two years.

Tens of thousands of medical malpractice claims are filed each year in the U.S. While no physician likes to think that he or she will be named as a defendant at some point, in today’s litigious society, it’s entirely possible. Comprehensive healthcare liability insurance is an absolute must for all practitioners. When evaluating medical malpractice insurance companies near Palm Beach, the following questions may arise.

Why Should Physicians Purchase Their Own Liability Coverage?
In some cases, having healthcare liability insurance through the hospital or facility is sufficient. However, you may wish to purchase additional coverage for yourself, depending on a number of factors. First, given the likelihood of a claim occurring at some point during your career, it only makes sense to protect yourself with affordable malpractice insurance that goes above and beyond what your hospital offers. Second, you may want to change employers at some point or your current facility may close, in which case having your own policy offers portability. And third, the coverage your hospital offers may provide inadequate coverage.

How Should I Choose an Insurance Company?
It’s a good idea to choose an independent agency that specializes in medical malpractice insurance. Select an agency that is well established in the field, such as one that has been in business for at least a couple of decades. Your agency should work with financially stable carriers with top ratings.

What Will My Policy Cover?
The answer to this question varies depending on your particular policy. There are different types of coverage options, such as claims-made and “tail” coverage. It’s always a good idea to read a policy before purchasing it or to have an attorney help you understand it. Generally, healthcare liability insurance will cover settlements, damages, and court costs.

What Information May be Reported?
In the event that a claim is filed against you and your healthcare liability insurance company makes a payment to the plaintiff, the insurance company is required to report the payment to the National Practitioner Data Bank.

What are Policy Limits?
You’ll notice that your insurance policy has an individual limit and an aggregate limit. The individual limit is the maximum amount that will be paid for any particular claim. The aggregate limit is the maximum payout for all of the claims within the term of the policy.

“I need to talk to YOU”, barked the elderly mother of my friend, Jane.

“ My Cardiologist FIRED ME! ” she exclaimed.

“ For being a non-compliant patient?” I queried.

“ How did YOU KNOW ? “ She demanded. My friend Jane gave me a knowing look. Hmm I thought, need to be diplomatic here. “ Well, that is the primary reason a doctor will terminate the patient/doctor relationship.” I tried to sound matter of fact.

“HMPH! She snorted…just because I don’t want to take all that diabetes and cholesterol medication he prescribed for me—I just don’t believe in it! It’s a conspiracy between the pharmaceutical companies and the doctors! Firing a patient–I never HEARD of such a thing!”

I sure have, I thought!

Nothing says high-risk, non-compliant patient like a cantankerous older, obese patient with several chronic conditions, who refuses to follow their prescribed medication regimen.

Many physicians find it difficult to terminate a long-term relationship with a patient. A physician has every right, in fact it is good loss prevention policy, to terminate your relationship with a non-compliant patient after you have exhausted every effort to manage their condition.

Kimberly Hathaway, MSN, RN, LHRM, CPHRM, CPHQ

Risk Manager for The Doctors Company, advises ” It is good practice to discuss issues related to keeping appointments, acceptable behavior or compliance with the prescribed treatment with the patient, prior to sending the patient a discharge letter. In very few instances should the letter be the first indication to the patient that things just aren’t working between you. Each situation is different, but a physician has the right, in fact it is good loss prevention policy, to terminate the relationship with a non-compliant or disruptive patient after you have exhausted other efforts to manage their behavior and or condition”.

Most brand name malpractice insurance companies have a Risk Management or Patient Safety consultant that can provide you with guidelines, resources and medic-legal advice, if you have a patient relationship that you feel you need to terminate. Take advantage of this resource so that you can protect yourself.

“Twenty years ago, we would have taken care of this with a phone call” said the young internist as I waited with my 90-year-old  mother-in-law for him to work through the lengthy list of questions required at every visit now, due to healthcare reform.  On the one hand, I could understand his frustration with the process.  I recalled my first visit to my own primary care physician, who we fondly refer to as “Crazy Dr. Larry.”  Crazy-BRILLIANT, that is, following Dr. Larry’s implementation of Electronic Medical Record keeping.   Dr. Larry was very frustrated with the new requirements at that first visit.  “You know computers, right?  Can you answer all these questions?  He gave me the laptop and ran to check another patient whose EKG was irregular.  So, I got to try it for myself, working through the lengthy list of questions, and possible replies via drop down menu.  I noted the prompts and other built in checks.  Hmmm, I thought, this might actually be good for Dr. Larry who is multi-tasking and fielding staff interruptions and calls from the hospital during every patient visit.  Back to the young internist, he is not my mother-in-law’s regular physician, and had never seen her before as a patient–he did know that she is a retired physician herself,  and one of his asociate’s most “VIP” of patients.   As he worked through the lengthy list of questions, I noted that he was learning a lot about by mother-in-law’s history, things he probably would not have known had he been using an old paper chart, and reviewed only the last few visits and recent lab work.  Since my first visit after Dr. Larry implemented the new requirements, he has become much more adept at working through the electronic chart and is seeing his patients more promptly.  Certainly, there are improvements that can be made, and much streamlining that can be done.  Bottom line, though, change is hard, but it is not all bad–in fact much about it is an improvement over our old systems.  From a medical malpractice risk management standpoint, the electronic charting will help physicians improve their chart documentation, which is often key in defending a malpractice case.  Incidents of “if it is not in the chart, it cant be proved it was done” will be reduced to nil for physicians diligently completing every field in their electronic  charts.