A medical indemnity insurance policy covers claims in case of misdiagnosis, delays in referrals, error and omission, wrong treatments, or negligence either by doctors or the unqualified staff members of a hospital or clinic.
This policy also covers the unqualified staff of a medical establishment. However, it comes at an additional premium.
The unqualified staff here compromises compounders, ward boys, and nurses. The policy also covers other staff members working at a hospital or clinic. However, it is important that the doctor declare the number of untrained staff when filling out the proposal form. This allows the insurer to price the liability insurance properly.
So, the insurance covers the cost of litigation, settlement, court fee, civil fines, and expenses. Some insurers may appoint a medical lawyer to support the insured.
Here we will examine two instances where the policy has provided coverage to different medical establishments from litigation and compensation expenses.
Case Study 1:
A 40-year-old man admitted to M.N. Clinic died after a staff member gave him the wrong medicine without testing for allergies. The patient had a severe allergic reaction. An FIR was lodged against the private clinic on account of gross negligence.
The medical indemnity insurance policy took care of the clinic’s litigation costs and the compensation amount.
Case Study 2:
In the second instance, a patient died of the wrong dose of painkillers. The compounder had mixed up the medicines. This led to the patient’s family lodging a police complaint against a doctor alleging gross negligence. The doctor was found guilty during the investigations and the family was duly compensated. This was even though the error was that of the compounder.
In this case, too, the policy took care of the litigation cost as well as the settlement amount since the hospital was covered under the medical indemnity insurance.
Being covered under the indemnity insurance policy is crucial for medical establishments in today’s world. It is equally important to cover all staff members and doctors to avoid additional expenses in case of lawsuits.
Thus, we can conclude that the doctor’s professional indemnity insurance is crucial for medical professionals and institutions as it safeguards the reputation of a hospital.
Moreover, this policy provides a sense of security to the doctors while they are rendering professional medical services. It is not always possible to predict outcomes accurately. However, doctors feel secure when the cost of handling adverse outcomes is insured.
