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Medical malpractice suits are always a concern for medical professionals. Below, we explain the four “Cs” of medical malpractice prevention that each medical professional should know to avoid malpractice cases.

Compassion

Compassion or caring should be self-explanatory for anyone in the medical profession who wants to help people. Doctors and nurses must sympathize with and show concern for their patients to help create a bond of trust.

One of the most common complaints and catalysts of medical malpractice claims against nurses or doctors is that the patient felt ignored or that the medical professional didn’t care about them. Take the time to go the extra mile with a patient and be honest with them to create a more compassionate yet professional relationship.

Communication

Communication is another critical factor in medical malpractice prevention. Communication encompasses verbal and non-verbal contact between medical professionals and between the medical professional and the patient.

Communication with a patient is critical, as the patient must feel their doctor or nurse is listening and giving them plenty of opportunities to ask questions as they review the problem and course of treatment, so they understand what’s happening. Communication between staff is also critical, as miscommunication or delayed communication can cause a domino effect that negatively impacts the patient’s health and causes harm.

Competence

Obviously, a medical professional must be competent if they want to avoid medical malpractice claims. A doctor or nurse should realize when a situation is outside their purview and recommend a patient to someone more competent when needed.

But the competence of malpractice prevention is also about staying capable in their position. The medical industry changes so often that doctors and nurses must constantly stay up-to-date with their training and education, so as not to use outdated practices and technology on the patients, potentially causing harm.

Charting

Charting is perhaps the most important factor in malpractice prevention and can be the easiest strategy. Proper documentation is critical to competent treatment and provides a detailed written record of the patient’s medical history.

A doctor needs quality documentation to adequately treat a patient, as it can cause significant harm if something’s missing or incorrect. The chart is often a key piece of evidence, so it’s crucial to ensure it’s accurate and up-to-date if a medical malpractice case goes to court.

Even if you follow every strategy of malpractice prevention, you may still be hit with a malpractice claim. Baxter & Associates can help medical professionals find specialized policies, like CRNA liability insurance. Contact our staff if you have medical malpractice questions or need a professional liability policy today.

Malpractice cases are an unfortunate part of the job of every health-care provider, including nurse practitioners. Below, we’ll explain the elements of medical malpractice and discuss some common examples of malpractice suits brought against nurse practitioners.

The Elements of Medical Malpractice

Before we get into examples of professional liability cases against nurse practitioners (NPs), we’ll discuss what it takes for a court to find a nurse practitioner liable. In the courts, four elements of malpractice liability must be present for the courts to find an NP or other medical professional professionally liable for harm to a patient.

Duty Owed to Patient

The first element the plaintiff must prove against the defendant is that the NP had a professional responsibility to care for the patient. This element is pretty basic and rarely contested by the defendant.

All the patient or the patient’s family must do is prove that the NP had a duty of care toward the patient. They can prove this if there’s any basic documentation or witnesses that prove the NP cared for the patient. The defendant can contest this if they claim that there was some miscommunication regarding who was responsible for the patient’s care, but such cases are rare.

Breach of Duty

After establishing the responsibility of care, the plaintiff must prove that the NP neglected or violated that responsibility. This is the most difficult element to prove, and the defense will usually contest it.

The breach of duty can come in many forms, like medication errors or absent patient monitoring, but another medical expert witness must corroborate this claim. It often requires medical expertise to decipher documentation and offer testimony about how the NP made an error.

Causality of Breach to Patient Injury

After the breach of duty, the plaintiff must also prove that the breach of duty directly caused the patient injury. Every malpractice case must include an injury to the victim; otherwise, there’s no basis for malpractice and no recourse that the courts can take.

Several things can cause the patient’s injury other than malpractice, including a worsening condition, a new injury/illness, or emotional distress. This element is often straightforward, and the plaintiff or defense can prove or disprove it with simple medical records or victim testimony.

Damages

Lastly, for the plaintiff to receive compensation for their injuries or injuries to their loved ones, they have to show the value of their case in damages. If there are no damages to the individual, the court cannot reward compensation.

Again, this element is often easy to prove if the plaintiff has already proved the breach of duty. Damages can include additional medical bills, lost wages, or out-of-pocket expenses related to the breach of duty. Often, the defense doesn’t contest the existence of damages but only the extent of them.

Examples of Medical Malpractice for Nurse Practitioners

While malpractice cases can come in all forms, there are many ways that NPs can receive a claim. Below, we’ve compiled a list of common malpractice suits brought against nurse practitioners.

Improper Documentation

One of the most common reasons an NP can receive a malpractice claim is errors in the documentation or a failure to document altogether. Documentation is a large aspect of an NP’s responsibilities, like documenting when they administered treatment or medication.

If there are errors in the documentation, like an NP forgetting to document how much medication they administered, that lead to harm, they could be liable for malpractice. Even something as simple as having illegible handwriting can lead to miscommunications and harm to the patient, so always write legibly!

Medication Errors

Another significant reason someone may bring up a malpractice case against NPs is medication. NPs must prescribe and administer medication, and even the slightest errors in prescribing or administering drugs can cause significant harm to a patient.

If an NP administers the wrong medication or the incorrect amount, they could be professionally liable. The same is true if they prescribe a medication that the patient is allergic to. With the opioid crisis, there’s also been a rise in NPs receiving cases due to overprescribing opioids to patients and causing opioid dependence. NPs must always look for the signs of addiction in their patients when prescribing powerful opioids.

Failure To Provide Care

One of the most basic examples of an NP breaching duty of care is failing to provide proper care altogether. This area of malpractice is vague and can relate to many responsibilities of NPs, like failing to diagnose a patient or not providing adequate medical intervention in an emergency.

If an NP neglects simple responsibilities, like helping a patient out of their bed, helping them move around for exercise, and preventing bed sores, they can be professionally liable.

Absent Monitoring

Another key part of the job as an NP is monitoring and observing patients. It’s often an NP’s responsibility to monitor the well-being of their patients and identify any signs of distress or harm, report those signs, and act immediately.

If a patient suffers a medical event, like a cardiac arrest, while under the supervision of an NP, and that NP doesn’t act quickly enough, causing greater harm or death to the patient, the patient could hold them responsible.

Treatment Error or Failure To Provide Standard of Care

NPs also have many responsibilities for treatment, which is another area of malpractice cases. NPs often perform hands-on treatment and perform medical procedures for patients. They could be liable if they make a mistake during these treatments that cause bodily harm or emotional distress.

Not every error is malpractice, but if the error results from an NP not following the standards of care, like failing to implement necessary safety protocols, they’d be vulnerable to a malpractice claim.

Conclusion

Malpractice suits are something that every NP must prepare for in case they make an error. Baxter & Associates helps NPs find insurance and even nurse practitioner student liability insurance for those working while still studying. If you’re a nurse practitioner who needs insurance, contact our helpful staff at Baxter & Associates and ask about malpractice insurance today.

A common reason for a malpractice lawsuit against a medical practice is unethical conduct from the clinic or a staff member. Below, we explain some of the most significant ethical breaches that can occur in medical practice.

Confidentiality Breach

Confidentiality is a significant concern for patients, so any breach of that confidentiality by a doctor or clinic is a serious form of unethical conduct. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) strictly prohibits the disclosure of sensitive health information without the patient’s consent.

Disclosing sensitive health information can sometimes occur accidentally, but it’s still a significant ethics violation that could expose the doctor and clinic legally.

Discrimination

Discriminatory behavior is obviously a major unethical conduct in medical practice—whether it’s discrimination of a patient’s gender, race, sexual orientation, or other protected category. Discrimination in health care can come in many forms, from doctors selectively choosing the patients they want to treat to being dismissive about specific gender issues.

Discriminatory conduct can also come in the form of verbal abuse if a doctor or clinic staff is inappropriate or abusive to a patient based on race, gender, or other criteria. This conduct is why diversity training and seminars can be valuable resources for clinics to avoid malpractice and discrimination lawsuits.

Covering Up a Mistake

Sometimes in medical practice, it’s not the mistake but the actions of the doctor and clinic afterward that are unethical. We’re all human, and we make mistakes. Still, if a doctor/clinic is deceitful about that mistake and withholds information from the patient regarding their medical condition, that’s a severe ethical and legal breach.

Patients have a legal and ethical right to information about their medical conditions—mistakes and all. If a patient later learns that a previous doctor/clinic made a mistake in their treatment and covered it up, they would have a strong case for malpractice and violation of informed consent.

Deceptive Billing Practices

An, unfortunately, all too common ethical breach in the health-care industry has little to do with doctors and patients and revolves around billing practices. The insurance billing system is complex and difficult for many to understand, which makes it a rife opportunity for shady medical billing professionals and clinics to dupe patients and insurance providers.

There are many examples and types of shady billing practices in health care, including:

• Upcoding (overbilling)
• Duplicate charges
• Phantom charges (billed for services never rendered)
• Unbundling (separation of charges that the insurance company should bill together)
• Incorrect quantities (inflating total items/medications received by the patient)

Any of these billing practices are an ethical breach for a clinic and could lead to legal action from the patient and the insurance provider.

Conclusion

There are clearly many opportunities for a clinic to face legal action due to unethical conduct, which is why group malpractice insurance is essential for any medical clinic. If you have questions about unethical conduct or malpractice insurance, contact our expert team at Baxter & Associates.

Insurance agents help professionals and ordinary people get the insurance coverage they need. You might wonder if professional insurance agents need malpractice coverage themselves. They do, and we’ll explain policies every insurance agent needs, like errors and omissions coverage.

Yes, Insurance Agents Need Liability Coverage

Every professional insurance agent should have liability policies to protect themselves and their business. Professional liability insurance is especially important. An insurance agent who runs their own business will need basic business coverage, like a business owner’s policy, worker’s compensation, and cyber liability insurance.

Insurance agents offer advice and counsel to clients, but that counsel doesn’t always work out. When this happens, the client may seek retribution against the agent. Every insurance agent needs malpractice coverage for protection in these cases, primarily errors and omissions (E&O) insurance.

Errors & Omissions Insurance

E&O insurance is a specialized policy to protect the insured against the legal cost of errors not traditionally covered by standard liability insurance. Insurance agents are people, too, and can make mistakes in the counsel or recommendations of their clients. Errors that E&O covers include the following:

• Giving the wrong advice accidentally
• Missing a deadline
• Failing to recommend coverage
• Not explaining policy provisions
• Errors made by the agent, team, or subcontractor
• Inadequate work

If a client feels that any of these errors by their insurance agent cost them a substantial sum or payout from the insurance provider, they may file a malpractice claim to force the agent to make up the difference.

What Errors & Omissions Insurance Covers

If the claim falls under one of the protected acts in E&O insurance, the policy will cover most of the costs of defending the agent in court. That includes attorney fees, court costs, and unfavorable judgments or settlements up to the policy’s limits.

Judgments and settlements regarding liability and malpractice can reach hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, depending on the situation. Without liability insurance, the agent could be left on the hook for that payment themselves.

Conclusion

Now you understand why insurance agents need malpractice coverage and some policies the average agent needs. Baxter & Associates is a trusted malpractice insurance agency that connects professionals with suitable providers and can offer a liability policy. Learn more on our website or contact our staff to get started on a policy today.

Illegible, poorly written, and incomplete medical documentation is an all-too-common problem in healthcare. Below, we discuss ways healthcare professionals and clinics can prevent poor medical documentation and ensure everyone is on the same page.

Avoid Copying & Pasting

One of the most common culprits for mistakes in medical documentation is the dreaded copy-and-paste function for the electronic health record (EHR). Anyone who has used a computer is familiar with its function and its convenience, especially when transferring large amounts of data from one document to another.

However, the copy-and-paste function is a breeding ground for mistakes, as you can easily repeat errors onto multiple documents, making it harder to track an illness’s progression. Repeated copy-and-pasting can also add more pages to documentation than needed, which makes them harder to read and understand.

Use Abbreviations & Symbols Sparingly

Another way to prevent poor medical documentation is to use as few abbreviations and symbols as possible. Medical documentation is often rife with shorthand, abbreviations, and symbols—which can be convenient. However, it can also lead to confusion and assumptions.

While most medical professionals within the same department may see and understand what these abbreviations mean, it’s easy for others to get confused and assume it means something else, which can cause many issues.

Write as Clearly as Possible

It’s the simplest and most obvious advice, but it’s still worth mentioning: always be as clear as possible in your medical documentation. Clear writing applies to the legibility of one’s handwriting and the documentation’s content.

Clarity and precision are critical aspects of medical documentation, but many overlook them for more time-saving writing methods. After filling out your documentation, ask yourself if the paperwork is clear, concise, complete, and legible.

Document Future Plans

One aspect of medical documentation many healthcare professionals overlook is who may be reading their notes and documentation in the future. If a facility must transfer their patient to another facility, the professionals the patient comes in contact with, such as specialists and social workers, may need to consult the documentation to appropriately coordinate their care.

It’s helpful for all involved if healthcare professionals include the patient’s care plans in their documentation. For example, note the date of a follow-up appointment and provide a rough timeline for when treatment can resume. These simple additions can reduce confusion and misunderstanding for those reading the documentation in the future.

Conclusion

Poor medical documentation is a frequent cause of medical malpractice claims against all kinds of healthcare professionals, from physicians to chiropractors and more. Therefore, malpractice insurance is critical for every healthcare professional.

If you’re a chiropractor looking for a chiropractic malpractice insurance quote, Baxter & Associates can help. Contact our staff today so we can help you find a malpractice policy that suits your needs and budget.

Opening a medical clinic, like any small business, is a massive undertaking that’s difficult for many people—especially for those who know only the medical side of a practice. If you’re thinking of starting a medicine practice, our key tips below will help your clinic begin on the right foot toward becoming functional and profitable.

Obtain Funding

The first concern when building a medical clinic from scratch is securing the cash to get it up and running. Dollar amounts for how much a medical practice needs to get started depend on the situation and the practice itself.

There are two main considerations for securing funding: the startup costs, such as the medical and office equipment, and the initial operating expenses for overhead costs, staff, vendors, and more. It takes months or years for a medical practice to come close to earning a profit and generating a stable revenue stream. So until then, keeping the lights on will require additional funding. Unless you’re independently wealthy, the best way to secure funding is to get investors and loans from banks, and to do that will require a business plan.

Create a Business Plan

Like any other business, a key tip for starting a functional medicine practice is to create an informative and detailed business plan. A business plan acts as a pitch for banks and investors to secure funding and a roadmap for the medical clinic’s first couple of years of operation.

Most medical professionals launching a practice are more concerned about the medical side of the business. However, the operational and administrative side of things requires much of the thought and resources. There are many aspects of a business plan, so we’ll touch on some key elements below and how they relate to medical practice.

Executive Summary

The executive summary is the first section of a business plan and the first thing banks and investors will read. As the name suggests, this section is all the big ideas and plans of the other sections boiled down to a concise and attractive summary.

While it appears as the first section in the document, you should write it last to summarize the rest of the business plan accurately. The summary should be around a page or two long and feature the plan’s general information and best points, including who you are, what your practice offers, the competition, etc.

Problem and Solution

The core of any profitable business, whether a medical practice or a hot dog stand, is the problem and solution. What is the problem that the business is solving, and how will it solve the problem?

This section for a new medical clinic generally concerns the lack of specialty care in the practice area. For example, the problem may be that the aging population in such-and-such areas doesn’t have reliable chiropractic care within 50 miles, which this new chiropractic clinic will solve.

Target Market

Every business has a target market, which comprises the people the business will market toward and who will make up the core of its customer base. The target market section will relate to the problem and solution section. For example, if there aren’t enough gynecological or pediatric services in the area that a gynecology or pediatric clinic is proposing to solve, target market research will support the claim.

The target market section of a medical business plan should also include an ideal patient profile. This profile should include information like the patient’s income, health problems, where they live, their insurance, etc. It’s also wise to include a list of competitors for this target market and how this new practice will offer something different.

Marking and Sales Plan

After outlining the target market of the new practice, it’s time to explain how the practice will attract and retain this target market. A new practice has the disadvantage of not being known in the community and industry, so the marketing and sales plan is crucial for reaching the target market.

Will the clinic focus on direct mail campaigns or advertise more online? What areas will the advertising budget be most focused on and why?

Incorporate the Practice

Assuming you secure funding for your medical practice, it’s time to start the legal proceedings of starting the business, which include incorporating the practice. In many states, medical clinics can only operate as professional medical corporations, so it’s not much of a choice.

Incorporation provides many benefits to the owner—mainly, it protects the owner from personal liability for the business. So if it fails or faces problems, the business—not the owner—is liable. But owners who operate as medical professionals, like a chiropractor who runs their own clinic, would still be liable professionally for malpractice or negligence.

Invest in Quality Equipment and Staff

It may be tempting to cut corners regarding initial expenses and equipment to reduce costs at your new clinic. And while there are plenty of areas where you can make compromises, the equipment and staff are worth investing more money into for greater long-term value to the medical clinic. For example, for a chiropractic clinic, high-quality treatment tables and experienced chiropractors are well worth the investment over shoddy equipment and new staff.

New owners should also want to invest in experienced professionals for their front-office team, if they have one. An experienced front-office team will help clinic operators navigate the tumultuous waters of the first months and provide a clear delineation between the administrative and treatment side of the business.

Purchase Medical Business Insurance

Like any other business, a medicine clinic needs quality insurance coverage to protect management, employees, and the incorporated business. The following is coverage that every medical clinic requires:

• General liability insurance
• Business income insurance
• Commercial property insurance
• Workers compensation insurance

Medical clinics also have specialized insurance that caters to the unique circumstances of medical practices, such as medical malpractice insurance and medical office business insurance. Overall, quality insurance coverage is as critical to a business’s survival as the management and employees are.

Conclusion

We hope our guide on creating a medical clinic has been informative and helpful. If you’re starting a practice and need insurance coverage, Baxter & Associates can help you find medical malpractice insurance quotes that suit your business and situation. Contact our staff to learn more and find the right insurance policy for you.

At Baxter & Associates, we service many healthcare professionals—including orthodontists—and help them find comprehensive and affordable malpractice insurance. We’ll explain why orthodontists need malpractice insurance like any other healthcare provider.

Orthodontists Are as Liable as Physicians

While dentistry and orthodontics may not seemingly have the same stakes as physicians and their treatment, an orthodontist can be found just as liable for injury to a patient as any other healthcare provider. Orthodontists are responsible for diagnosing and treating dental and facial irregularities, and treatments can go wrong in many ways.

The field of orthodontics focuses on the face and smile, so incorrect treatment and mistakes can cause permanent damage to a patient’s appearance. In such cases, a patient would be significantly motivated to take action against their healthcare provider, like their orthodontist, in a malpractice lawsuit.

Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Are Common

In today’s healthcare industry, medical malpractice lawsuits are unfortunately common for most healthcare providers. The American Medical Association estimates roughly a third of physicians have been sued for malpractice at some point in their career, with roughly half of those healthcare providers being sued multiple times.

The trend of malpractice lawsuit frequency dates back to the early 1960s in the US, and with the recent strain on the industry from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is not expected to decrease any time soon. Orthodontists are not immune to this trend, and if they’re not careful, one mistake could add them to the growing list of healthcare providers sued for malpractice.

Malpractice Settlements Are Increasing

Another key reason why orthodontists need malpractice insurance is that the severity of malpractice rewards and settlements is increasing. Nearly every state in the US has seen an increase in malpractice claim severity in recent years, and the trend is expected to continue.

The typical malpractice injury settlement is in the thousands and trending upward to millions. Without malpractice insurance, orthodontists sued for malpractice could see their financial security evaporate from a settlement or damage reward.

Conclusion

If you’re an orthodontist needing medical malpractice insurance, Baxter & Associates can help. Our expert staff will help you find a policy ideal for your situation, whether you’re an orthodontist, CRNA, chiropractor, or another type of healthcare professional.

Much is misunderstood about malpractice insurance, like what a liability insurance policy covers. Does malpractice insurance cover criminal charges? We answer that question and more regarding malpractice insurance below.

No, Criminal Charges Are Not Covered by Malpractice Insurance

Healthcare professionals must understand the difference between criminal charges and a malpractice lawsuit. Criminal charges are remedied in criminal court, while malpractice lawsuits occur in civil court, where the penalties are strictly financial and don’t include the threat of imprisonment.

If a healthcare provider is found to be intentionally negligent or reckless and harms a patient, they could be indicted for criminal charges, which malpractice insurance would not cover. Malpractice insurance is only for civil proceedings. Exceptions to that coverage include sexual misconduct.

Malpractice Coverage & HIPAA Violations

HIPAA violations are other common concerns regarding malpractice coverage. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) deals with patient privacy and governs healthcare professionals, healthcare facilities, and insurance companies.

If a healthcare professional fails to maintain a patient’s privacy and is accused of a HIPAA violation, they could be hit with a malpractice lawsuit. Whether their insurance covers the lawsuit depends on their coverage. While many policies will include coverage for a HIPAA violation, it might not be standard coverage like the other costs and may require additional coverage.

What Malpractice Insurance Does Cover

We’ve discussed much of what malpractice insurance doesn’t cover, so you’re probably wondering what it covers for those facing a malpractice lawsuit. Coverage varies from one insurance provider and policy to another, but the standard framework of malpractice insurance covers the following costs:

• Attorney fees
• Court costs
• Arbitration costs
• Compensatory damages
• Settlements

Even if a malpractice insurance policy covers these costs, limits exist regarding how much a policy will pay to cover these fees per claim or policy period. If you have malpractice insurance or are searching for a policy, read the details carefully to understand the plan’s coverage.

Conclusion

Medical professionals should know many things about malpractice insurance, from what it covers to policy limits and more. At Baxter & Associates, we make the search for insurance easier for medical professionals by connecting them with policies suited for them, like nurse practitioner liability insurance. Contact our helpful staff today if you need malpractice insurance or want to learn more.

Risk assessment is an integral part of insurance. Insurance carriers categorize potential policies by risk, affecting premiums, coverage, and all other parts of the policy. In this guide, we’ll examine the risk classifications for malpractice insurance, explain the elements of a successful malpractice lawsuit, and more.

How Risks Are Classified in Malpractice Insurance

When attaining malpractice insurance for an individual or group, the insurance carrier will place the policy into one of their risk categories. Below, we’ll highlight the main risk classifications for malpractice insurance and what they mean, so individuals can better understand their policy.

Preferred Risk

The best risk category for a policy to be in is preferred risk. A preferred risk individual or group policy is a medical professional or practice with a lower risk than average of filing a claim.

Medical malpractice liability Insurance providers use stats to determine these classifications—certain specialties and practices are more or less likely to be sued for malpractice than others. Examples of low-risk practices and professions include pediatrics, psychiatry, and general family practice. These aren’t guaranteed risk-free, but they come with the least risk statistically.

Standard Risk

As one could guess, the standard risk classification is the average risk for most malpractice policies. These individuals and groups are not significantly risky or low-risk and constitute the majority of medical malpractice policies.

Most medical professionals would fall into this category—typically registered nurses to physicians and specialists. But while an individual may work in a standard risk job, if they have a history of malpractice or prior lawsuits, they may be bumped into the impaired risk category.

Impaired Risk

Lastly, the policies considered the riskiest are placed in the impaired category. The insurance carrier considers an impaired risk to be an individual or practice that is riskier than the average but not such a liability that they’re not worthy of a policy.

Those that fall in the impaired risk category are typically those that work in specialties with the highest rate of malpractice claims, which include:

• • Plastic surgeons
• • Cardiovascular surgeons
• • OB-GYNs
• • Urologists

Surgeons are often classified as impaired risks because they’re common targets for malpractice claims.

The Elements of a Successful Malpractice Claim

Along with understanding the risk classifications, it’s also wise to understand the basic elements of a malpractice claim. For a malpractice lawsuit to be successful, it must prove four elements—a duty owed to the patient, a breach of that duty, injury caused by the breach, and damages.

These elements are sometimes called the four Ds: Duty, Dereliction, Direct Cause, and Damages.

Duty Owed to Patient

The first element that a malpractice lawsuit must prove is that the defendant had a duty of care to the patient (plaintiff). A primary physician has a duty to provide competent and careful treatment and diagnosis to the patient, and a surgeon has a duty to perform the surgery competently to the best of their abilities.

A patient who suffers injury can’t simply sue whoever they want to and expect them to be held responsible if they did not have a duty of care. This element is typically the easiest part of the malpractice suit to prove and is generally uncontested by the defendant.

Breach of Duty

Once the defendant’s duty of care to the plaintiff is proven, the lawsuit must also establish that there was a breach (otherwise known as dereliction) of duty. This element is much harder to prove as it must show the defendant deviated from their duty and failed to fulfill their obligations.

Examples of breach of duty include misdiagnosing a patient, prescribing the wrong type of medication, or making surgical mistakes. Since understanding the core duties of medical treatment requires a lot of education and skill, expert witnesses and testimony are typically needed to establish whether the defendant breached their duty.

Injury Caused by Breach

If the breach of duty is proven, then the case can move to prove that the plaintiff suffered an injury due to the cause of the breach. In medical malpractice, it’s not enough that there was a mistake, but it must be proven that the mistake caused harm.

A plaintiff may claim that a misdiagnosis caused injury, but the defendant may point to pre-existing conditions or other circumstances that caused the injury, not the breach of duty. In some cases, though, this element can be obvious—like if a surgeon leaves a surgical instrument in the patient (which happens more than you think), that’s a clear line from breach of duty to injury.

Damages

Lastly, the plaintiff must prove that damages resulted from the injury caused by the breach of duty. In some cases, a mistake was made and caused injury, but the damages weren’t significant enough to reward compensation.

Damages are placed into two groups: special and general. Special damages include lost pay or the cost of corrective surgery when needed. General damages are vaguer and include pain and suffering or loss of quality of life. If a malpractice claim can prove these four elements, they will likely be successful and be rewarded compensation or a settlement with the defendant.

The 4 Cs of Medical Malpractice Risk Reduction

Naturally, its in the best interests of medical professionals and practices to reduce risk as best they can. There are many strategies for reducing risk in healthcare, but the core elements are sometimes called the four Cs: compassion, communication, competence, and charting.

Compassion & Communication

Compassion is vital in developing the doctor-patient relationship and avoiding strife that can result in a malpractice lawsuit. One of the most common reasons patients and families pursue litigation is that they felt mistreated or disrespected by the individual—so if a doctor shows compassion and understanding, they’re more likely to receive it from patients and families if a negative result occurs.

Communication is also crucial in avoiding malpractice litigation. For one, proper communication with staff helps avoid mistakes like delayed diagnosis and incorrect prescription drug administration. Communicating with patients and families also helps them understand better what’s happening and why and makes them feel heard instead of ignored.

Competence & Charting

Of course, healthcare professionals must be competent if they want to avoid malpractice litigation. But competence also refers to physicians not going past their area of expertise—consulting with colleagues and referring patients to specialists when needed.

Lastly, charting (or documentation) helps to improve communication and is useful in potential litigation. For one, it provides a written record of everything that’s happened to the patient and gives healthcare professionals the most up-to-date information regarding the patient for quality and safe care.

Conclusion

If you’d like to learn more about medical malpractice liability risk for individuals and practices, our helpful staff is eager to answer all your questions and can help you find the ideal malpractice insurance policy for you.

There are many facets to insurance policies that may confuse those unfamiliar, such as the deductible. If you’re having trouble understanding your malpractice insurance policy’s deductible, let us help with our brief explainer on the basics of malpractice policies and deductibles.

What Is an Insurance Deductible?

What is an insurance deductible, and why is it important to understand? Basically, the deductible on an insurance policy is the lump sum the insured must pay before the insurance carrier begins paying what the policy covers. Typically, the higher the deductible, the lower the monthly premiums, and vice versa.

Insurance Deductible Scenario: If you’re in an automotive accident and your vehicle needs repairs, you must pay the deductible before the insurance policy activates.

In medical malpractice terms, the healthcare professional must pay a set amount before the insurance carrier covers the costs of a settlement or legal fees and court costs. But, as we’ll discuss, the deductible may only be for an indemnity and not cover the legal fees of a lawsuit.

Do Malpractice Insurance Policies Feature a Deductible?

One thing that the insured should understand about their malpractice insurance policy’s deductible is that their policy may not even feature a deductible. A deductible is standard for basic home, auto, and healthcare insurance policies. But malpractice insurance is different, and many policies don’t feature a deductible.

While they’re not as common as they are for home or auto policies, some malpractice insurance policies feature a deductible. The deductible for a malpractice policy can vary wildly from $1,000 to $10,000 or higher, depending on the policy and what it covers.

What’s the Difference Between an Indemnity and Indemnity & Expense Deductible?

Those who decide on a deductible for their malpractice insurance have a choice between an indemnity-only and an indemnity and expense deductible. In an indemnity-only deductible policy, the insured must pay the deductible only if payment of indemnity must be made and the insured is forced to pay a settlement to the plaintiff.

So, if the defendant of a malpractice lawsuit has an indemnity-only deductible policy, they’d only pay the deductible if they lose the case and are forced to pay an indemnity. But an indemnity-only policy does not cover legal costs—an indemnity and expenses policy does. Those insured with such a policy pay the deductible immediately for legal fees.

We hope our guide has helped you understand malpractice insurance deductibles a little better. As a medical malpractice insurance agency, we understand every facet of malpractice insurance and are always happy to help those looking to learn more. Contact our helpful staff today if you have further questions or are interested in purchasing an insurance policy.