Medical malpractice insurance is a type of professional liability insurance that covers healthcare professionals. Past patients can file lawsuits and seek damages against healthcare professionals claiming medical negligence that may have resulted in further health problems or death. Medical malpractice insurance offers healthcare professionals protection if such a claim is made.

DT Insurance works exclusively with MedPro Group and can write Occurrence, Claims-made, and Convert to Occurrence® insurance policies. 

An Occurrence policy is when the insured is covered for any incident that occurs (or occurred) while the policy is (or was) in force, regardless of when the incident is reported or when it becomes a claim. For example, if a claim is made today based on treatment rendered in 2018, the 2018 occurrence policy responds. Occurrence policies have three benefits:

1. Confidence: allow you to keep in place the annual limits you buy
2. Flexibility: don’t require a tail – you can practice when and how you choose
3. Value: when including the cost of tail coverage, occurrence policies are less expensive than claims-made policies

A Claims-made policy is when coverage is limited to only those claims that arise from incidents or events that both happen and are reported to the insurance company while the policy is in force. For example, if a claim was made in 2019, based upon treatment rendered in 2015, the 2019 Claims-made policy responds, if the incident occurred after the policy’s retroactive date. (The policy’s retroactive date is the date after which treatment must occur to trigger coverage).

A convertible claims-made policy makes it possible for you to convert your claims-made coverage into occurrence coverage. The convertible claims-made policy combines immediate occurrence coverage with a reduced “tail,” making it easy and affordable for physicians to once again enjoy the convenience and flexibility of occurrence coverage.

Tail coverage protects a healthcare professional against all claims arising from professional services performed when the Claims-made policy was in effect, but the claim was reported after termination of the policy. Since Claims-made policies do not cover claims made after the termination of the policy, you are required to secure “tail” coverage (an extended reporting endorsement) when you move your coverage from one carrier to another or stop practicing. If a claim is made against you, and you have cancelled a Claims-made policy, you have no coverage unless you have either secured tail coverage or your new carrier covers your prior acts back to your retroactive date. If you switch to a MedPro policy from another carrier, the majority of healthcare professionals will qualify for free tail coverage after they retire (if mature Claims-made) if they have been insured with MedPro for at least one year. Occurrence policies do not require tail coverage.

MedPro’s consent to settle provision means that MedPro will never settle a liability claim without your consent. Other insurance carriers may say they have consent clauses, but if you look closely, you’ll find that you could be subject to binding arbitration, a peer board review, or even a “hammer” clause that could expose your personal assets.

With the use of electronic medical records and the proliferation of smartphones, laptops, and tablets in medical practices, your risk of cyber liability exposure continues to grow. MedPro Group’s cyber and privacy liability insurance is provided at no additional cost to you and includes:

1. Enterprise Security Event: unauthorized access to your computer systems that results in damage or alteration of data, transmission of harmful software code, or denial of access.
2. Privacy Injury: Privacy breaches involving loss, accidental disclosure or theft of protected information, common law invasions of privacy and violation of Privacy Regulations with respect to the use or control of Protected Personal Information.
3. Privacy Regulation Liability: violations of HIPAA or other similar state, federal, and foreign identity theft and privacy protection statutes, rules, and regulations.
4. In addition, you will be reimbursed for expenses regarding crisis management, fraud response, public relations, forensic and legal, and data recovery.

For Claims-made policies, the annual aggregate limit is the maximum amount the carrier will pay for all claims arising from incidents that occurred and were reported during a given policy year. For Occurrence policies, the annual aggregate limit refers to the maximum amount the carrier will pay for all claims arising from incidents that occurred during a given year of insurance.

1. A few ways to evaluate your medical malpractice insurance carrier’s legal team are to see how many claims an insurance company is able to close without payment, their success rate when they do go to trial, and how they actively prepare their legal teams for future cases.
2. MedPro Group has been around since 1899 and have managed more than 400,000 claims in their 120+ years of operation. From 2010-2019, MedPro closed 80% of claims without payment; and of those that went to trial, 90% of them were won. Also, MedPro has established Advisory Boards of experienced healthcare professionals to create case studies of past claims and offer insights to avoid similar circumstances in the future.

DT Insurance Agency, through MedPro Group, can provide medical malpractice insurance to all levels of healthcare providers in multiple specialties. Contact a DT Insurance agent today to learn more about our insurance coverage options, call 866-516-6046 or email dtinsurance@datatrace.com.

Contact your DT Insurance agent to learn about risk management and SAE programs that are applicable to your specialty. You can call us at 866-516-6046 or email dtinsurance@datatrace.com.

Your DT Insurance agent will be your advocate and MedPro liaison. We will ensure you receive all available discounts, and help you connect with claims managers and risk specialists when needed. You can call us at 866-516-6046 or email dtinsurance@datatrace.com.