Malpractice Insurance Coverage For Physician Assistants
There are large amounts of malpractice lawsuits filed against doctors and physician assistant on a yearly basis. It is also not necessary that the physician assistant makes a mistake to become liable. Just about anything can occur in the medical field. Just one trivial lawsuit against a physician assistant can totally destroy his personal finances and career. This is what will happen if medical professional liability insurance is not purchased.
Out of all of the professions in the United States, the physician assistant profession is one that is developing the most rapidly. In addition, the responsibilities of the average physician assistant are increasing because numerous states are trying to find ways to reduce the healthcare expenses. When this is taken into consideration, it is a certainty that physician assistant malpractice lawsuits will most definitely go up. The American Academy of Physician Assistants predicts that the number of professional physician assistants in the United States will increase to 141,000 by the year 2020. It is obvious that all of these working physician assistants can be sued for malpractice.
Physician assistants can be sued even if they are on their employer’s insurance policy.
Although a physician assistant is not an independent medical worker, he is subjected to personal medical liability. According to the law, every healthcare professional is responsible for his own actions.
Many PAs figure that they are safe if they are covered under their employer’s insurance program. This is completely false. PAs are not fully covered under such employer insurance programs. They can still be sued for their own negligible actions. They might be responsible for paying all of or a portion of what the plaintiff is asking.
All hospitals are required to get healthcare coverage for its medical employees. But, this is not enough insurance. Physician assistants have to get personal malpractice insurance on their own or via a group. They are also responsible for choosing the right liability limits.
The two kinds of malpractice insurance are for either for one, the occurrence or two, the claims made. Occurrence insurance covers malpractice incidents that happen during the policy’s period. Even if you report it during the time that the policy is still in effect, the malpractice claim is still valid. But this kind of insurance policy is hard to find because of the mysteries that are associated with medical malpractice and lawsuits. The “claims-made” type of insurance has taken over.
With claims made insurance policies, the malpractice incident has to happen and be reported during the time period that the insurance is in effect. The claim will be disallowed if it is not reported before the insurance expires. If a physician assistant wants to make sure that claims can be reported after the insurance policy expirs, then they have to get an additional insurance policy. Physician assistants who change their insurance companies (to lower their premiums or for any other reason), can buy “prior acts” insurance to cover incidents that have occurred but are not reported.
Physician assistants must choose a malpractice policy based on their duties and responsibilities, practice location and risk levels. A physician assistant’s job responsibilities can be put into three different groups that are designated as Class A, B or C.
Class A physician assistants are those who assist in the diagnostic management of patients.
Class B physician assistants are those who assist in general surgeries, obstetrics (prenatal or postnatal care), trauma/emergency procedures (up to 10 hours per week), and anesthesiology.
Class C physician assistants are able to participate in plastic, neuro, thoracic, OB/GYN, orthopaedic and cardiovascular surgeries. They also help with obstetrics (delivery room), trauma/emergency procedures (more than 10 hours per week) or cardiac catheterization.
Physician assistants should purchase the right about of insurance coverage if they help with risky procedures such as cardiovascular surgery. If their job responsibilities are minor in nature, then these physician assistants won’t have to have that high of an insurance limit. But, if there seems to be a rising trend of lawsuits in the state, then the physician assistant has to raise the insurance limit.
By buying medical malpractice insurance, a physician assistant can help to safeguard both his healthcare career and this financial future. Although you might be listed on your employer’s insurance policy, you should still get a personal insurance policy just so that you can eliminate any risk that could occur as a result of a medical malpractice lawsuit.
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