Medical indemnity insurance policy is a type of professional liability insurance that is primarily available for medical practitioners and for medical establishments. Also referred to as doctor’s professional liability insurance, it is specially designed to provide financial protection to medical practitioners against legal costs and compensation costs arising out of litigations when they get sued for medical malpractice, negligence, or mistakes.
What is the need for Medical Indemnity Insurance Policy?
Medical malpractice or negligence can be a result of an error in diagnosis, medical treatment, or an aftercare service provided to the patient resulting in their health worsening or even their death. Some of the examples can be a failure to diagnose, unnecessary surgery, error in surgical procedures, premature discharge, improper care for the patient, misreading laboratory results, failure to recognize the symptoms, and many more such negligent acts from a medical practitioner or from medical establishments can take away the life of patients.
In such cases, the patient or his/her family has the right to hold the medical professional or establishment responsible for the loss or damage. In certain cases, the patient’s anxiety and limited knowledge may also lead to litigation against doctors. Thus, medical indemnity insurance plan financially safeguards medical professionals against these highly expensive litigations.
Additional Read: When does a claim occur under DPI and how to raise a claim?
Coverages offered in a Medical Indemnity Insurance Policy
Professional indemnity for doctors is a special coverage considering their unique need for insurance. According to a survey conducted in 2016, there has been a 400% rise in medico-legal cases in India. Out of which only 10% to 15% are genuine. Moreover, defending such cases in a court of Law involves exorbitant legal costs. If found guilty, compensation claims are extremely expensive. Customer awareness is increasing and society is becoming more litigious. So, it is important for doctors to be legally and financially secure against the risk of litigation.
Doctor’s professional liability insurance policy coverage is designed based on the risk involved in the medical profession and the probability of occurrence of events that may lead to a legal case against the doctors or even hospitals.
The limit of indemnity refers to the coverage or sum insured under the medical indemnity insurance plan. There is a fixed limit for each incident or accident. It involves the terms AOA (Any One Accident) and AOY (Any One Year). The AOA: AOY ratio determines the limit of indemnity in a Doctor’s PI. It generally ranges from 1:1 to 1:4.
How can SecureNow help?
With the rise in medical malpractices, negligence, and mistakes, it’s important for practitioners and medical establishments to stay financially secure. To sum up, medical indemnity insurance policies are specially crafted by insurance companies considering the uncertainties in the amount of compensation to be paid in any medico-legal cases. Quantifying the amount of compensation in case of medical litigations is very difficult. It is based on the stress and medical trauma caused to the patients by the act of negligence or malpractice. SecureNow helps you select the best Medical Indemnity Insurance Plan and helps you in the timely renewal of the policy. You can choose among different insurers for buying the DPI policy.
