The potential risk of negligence or errors in medical practice is too real. Every healthcare professional, including dentists, needs to consider the financial liability risk attached to their services and plan in advance for protection. It is important to avail professional indemnity insurance for doctors and dentists for financial security, ensuring comprehensive coverage tailored to the unique challenges of their respective professions. This specialized insurance is a crucial element in safeguarding their practice and reputation in the healthcare industry.
What is professional indemnity insurance for doctors?
Doctors’ indemnity insurance is a professional indemnity insurance specifically designed for healthcare professionals to provide them financial assistance whenever they are held liable for malpractice, negligence, or error in their medical practice. For example, a dentist can be held liable for the wrong diagnosis or for errors during extraction.
As dental malpractices are also on the rise, it is crucial for dentists to have malpractice insurance to financially secure themselves. Generally, the amount for which these claims are raised is too high. This can become a financial burden for dentists. Having professional indemnity insurance gives coverage against unprofessional conduct, claim defence costs, and unintentional breach of duty.
Why is malpractice insurance important for dentists?
Having professional indemnity insurance for dentists in India helps in enhancing patient trust along with giving them career protection. Legal and financial protection offered by the comprehensive insurance policy offers legal and financial protection in unexpected circumstances. Moreover, Having adequate malpractice insurance coverage gives peace of mind to the dentist and offers their service without worry.
However, it is important to know the scope of coverage, exclusions in the policy, and other terms before buying insurance coverage. Here are the details on what is covered and what is not covered in the indemnity insurance for doctors.
What is covered in professional indemnity insurance for dentists?
Here are the coverages offered under the indemnity insurance for dentists:
- It provides coverage for claims related to medical malpractice, errors, negligence, and mistakes while performing their professional duties. This includes malpractice related to treatment, diagnosis, surgeries, and patient care.
- It provides coverage for legal expenses that are incurred to defend these malpractice claims. This includes lawyer fees, court settlements, and costs.
- Professional indemnity insurance for doctors also covers the negotiated settlement and amount paid to the claimant in case the healthcare professional is found liable.
- The coverage may also get extended for expenses related to regulatory investigations relating to the unprofessional conduct of the dentist/healthcare professional.
The amount of coverage under professional indemnity insurance for doctors may vary depending on the potential risks that dentists face and the size of the practice.
What is not covered in professional indemnity insurance for doctors?
Professional indemnity insurance for doctors has some general exclusions under the policy. Here are the exclusions:
- Claims arising from wilful negligence, intentional acts and deliberately being non-compliant.
- Claims arising due to criminal activities
- Penalties and exemplary damages
- Healthcare practices under the influence of alcohol and intoxicating drugs
- War, invasion, terrorism
- Treatments are given for plastic surgery, weight loss, and sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS, etc.
- Claims arising due to contractual liability and fraudulent act
- Loss of reputation or goodwill
It’s important to understand the general exclusions thoroughly before buying policy to avoid the hassles of claim denials in future. A comprehensive package of liability insurance for dentists is essential to protect their dental practices against the risk of all potential claims.
Dental practitioners can easily avail the malpractice insurance online to safeguard themselves against medico-legal liabilities. There are many insurance providers offering professional indemnity insurance for dentists in India. However, the limit of indemnity, the cost, etc. vary from one insurance provider to another. It is important to compare the professional indemnity insurance policies offered by the various insurance providers on the basis of coverage, features, service quality, and cost.
Conclusion
To sum up, it’s extremely important for dental practitioners to seek financial protection against medico-legal liabilities in litigious society. Availing comprehensive professional indemnity insurance for doctors can help them safeguard against unforeseen malpractice allegations. Understanding the scope of coverage and the general exclusions under the policy before purchasing can help the healthcare professional make a rational decision.
