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What Is The Biggest Advantage Of Medical Professional Indemnity Insurance?

The necessity of medical professional indemnity insurance can be understood from its benefits. Buying indemnity insurance proves that you feel responsible for your service.

By MedicMall AustraliaPublished about a year ago 4 min read
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Just like patients, doctors also need a professional indemnity (PI) insurance plan to safeguard them against legal costs and claims for compensation by patients. It is called medical professional indemnity insurance.

Healthcare services like a physical examination of patients, diagnosis, treatment, medicines, therapies, and surgeries have been brought under consumer services. In the healthcare industry, patients are treated as consumers, and medical professionals, are considered service providers. And like other service providers, they are liable to compensate their customers (patients) for poor services.

Why Do Patients Sue Their Doctors?

Patients go to consumer courts asking for compensation for not getting desired results or having serious side effects after treatment. Here it is necessary to mention that patients show only one side of the story. It is for the court to investigate the complaints and award sentences. But surprisingly, only 10-15% of complaints are genuine, but doctors have to bear the expense of fighting their cases out of their pockets. It is where medical indemnity insurance comes to the rescue of doctors.

How Does Professional Indemnity Insurance Work?

Professional indemnity insurance works like a regular insurance policy. You pay a small amount as a premium and get expensive cover from footing your lawyer’s bills and paying compensation. While you could be good at providing healthcare services to your patients but buying an indemnity insurance policy is sensible instead of risking your precious time and money.

Let’s look at the number of cases of medical negligence to understand their nature

30% of cases are from patients whose expectations aren’t met. On inquiry, it was found that they expected complete recovery after paying high medical expenses. They took medical services like consumer products. They didn’t wait to recover and sue their doctors for negligence. Doctors secured with doctors indemnity insurance don’t have to worry about such cases.

20% are related to patients becoming anxious due to their limited knowledge and understanding of the technicalities involved in medical services. They didn’t understand the complexities involved in physical examinations and diagnosis of problems but went to courts asking for compensation out of nothing.

Only 15% are found to be genuine cases of medical negligence. But these accidents happened in the rush of saving lives. Sometimes doctors get little time to explain the severity of problems to patients or their relatives. These are the cases where doctors are asked to pay compensation. But there is little to worry about if you are duly covered by medical indemnity insurance for doctors.

How Much Financial Coverage Could I Get In Doctors Indemnity Insurance Cover?

You can choose your professional indemnity insurance coverage according to the risk. It is up to you to choose the cover, as the insurer will only provide service according to your PI insurance policy. If you are a general physician, you can select minimum coverage, but if you are a surgeon, you should go for extensive coverage. A short premium can save you from a big problem that can tank your services forever.

What Is The Best Benefit Of Medical Indemnity Insurance?

As a medical professional, you should be more concerned about your reputation. Once your reputation is spoiled, it is spoiled forever. If you have a compensation case, you will have to prepare and present it forcefully. And if you are asked to pay compensation, you will have to foot all the bills from your pocket. It is where medical professional indemnity insurance can come to your rescue.

Patients come to you because they believe you will help them in every condition, like compensation. They don’t expect negligence in service but know you will compensate them if things go the wrong way. Once they know that you are being sued by your patients and you are in court most of the time, they will turn their backs on you. If you don’t want it to happen to your service, you should buy a PI insurance policy.

Visit MedicMall to compare medical indemnity insurance in Australia and choose the best. Read everything written in fine print and even between the lines to know what is covered and buy the policy that gives extensive coverage at a minimum premium.

Things Covered Under Medical Professional Indemnity Insurance

  • All errors and omissions proved to be unintentional and purely accidental
  • Compensation for physical and mental trauma suffered by patients (victims) due to negligence not a result of willful neglect by concerned medical professionals
  • The entire cost of defending oneself in compensation cases in a court of law
  • Insurance cover can also be extended to other qualified and unqualified employees and partners in the medical services

You can see what is covered in PI insurance policies. But wait before you go ahead and buy a policy because there are many things to consider before making an opinion on a policy. You should also know what is excluded from medical indemnity insurance for doctors.

  • Medical services like diagnosis performed under the influence of alcohol or drugs
  • Criminal acts like non-compliance with the standard operating procedure while treating emergencies
  • Certain treatments like cosmetics are excluded from the PI insurance cover

Conclusion

If you look at the brighter side of PI insurance, you will find that it can boost your reputation as a responsible medical professional. It will be a small investment that can lead to savings in the long run. Also, you can easily compare medical indemnity insurance Australia at MedicMall to find the policy that covers all your needs without draining your savings.

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About the Creator

MedicMall Australia

MedicMall is a new online marketplace for medical & healthcare professionals in Australia. It offers a simple, easy-to-use eCommerce solution that connects medical practices & hospitals with trusted suppliers of quality products & services.

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