Professional Indemnity Insurance – What Doctors Need to Know Before Choosing One?

The Indian medical industry is suffering from a severe increase in medico-legal cases. A study conducted in 2016 showed that there had been a staggering 110% increase in medical negligence cases since 2015.

Violence and lawsuit against doctors have reached an all-time high in recent years in India. Recent estimates show that there has been a four-fold hike in lawsuits filed against doctors in consumer court.

In almost 85% of all such cases, the medical professional is not found guilty; however, during the time of the court case, is left to defend themselves.

The same studies also showed that approximately 90% of all those cases involved hospitals and 60% to 66% of the cases were filed because of healthcare centers taking improper consent from the relatives to perform certain procedures. Despite this, a medical lawsuit filed against a doctor can severely impact his or her career.

Experts blame such incidents of medical negligence on a considerably off-balance doctor to patient ratio of this country. There is only one doctor for every 1800 patients, which significantly increases the chances of such an issue. However, patients are quick to file a lawsuit against a professional and demand compensation for the loss.

Indemnity insurance for doctors in India can protect the individual against such occurrences. It protects the insured against indemnity claims and also from any liabilities with the incident.

Indemnity insurance for doctors in India offers the much needed financial and regulatory cover for professionals working in the healthcare sector. It protects the individual against unwanted lawsuits and damage that might be caused by any patient or their relatives.

The insurance also defends the insured against any unwanted incidents like unintentional errors and omissions, financial damage or loss to the victim (as long as it is not a result of willful neglect), damage incurred by an employee, and the cost of defending the insured in a court of law.

It can also Cover an Individual Against Risks Such as –

• Breach of confidentiality
• Incorrect diagnosis
• Fraud committed by an employee
• Damage to important documents

However, it is important to pick the correct indemnity insurance policy from hundreds of options available in the financial market. There are several important factors one should look out for while choosing professional indemnity insurance in India. Let’s take a look at some guidelines that will assist you to select the best policy for professional indemnity.

1. Coverage – The coverage for professional indemnity insurance is one of the most important aspects you should consider. Basic indemnity policies generally cover legal expenses or any damage to the patient whereas a better policy may also cover damages caused by an employee’s negligence.
2. Claim Handling – You should consider the rate of successful claim handling to select indemnity insurance for doctors in India. An insurance provider should start the claim reimbursement policy within the shortest time frame and should be able to contain any crisis and respond accordingly. Ideally, you should choose an indemnity insurance policy that has a higher ratio of successful claim handling. Learn all you need to know about indemnity insurance for doctors and perform thorough market research before narrowing down to any particular product
3. Cost of the Policy – An indemnity insurance should provide maximum coverage against the premium you will pay annually. The premium should not strain your personal finances, yet, the insurance policy should cover you against as many probable scenarios as possible. Indemnity insurance for doctors in India should be cost-effective and provide the maximum possible protection for your practice.
4. The Convenience of an Insurance Policy – The convenience and flexibility offered by the insurance policy is an important deciding factor. You should be able to change the sum insured according to the growth of your practice. The time needed to settle a claim, documentation process, etc. should also play a crucial role while you select professional indemnity insurance in India.

There are several other benefits and salient features of professional liability insurance for doctors like group policies, coverage, expenses incurred for defense and other more.

Numbers of insurance provider offers group policies for professional indemnity cover. Under this insurance plan, members of a single profession will get the coverage. The group policies for indemnity insurance also facilitates a discount of premium.

This discount will depend upon the number of group members that have added in your group policy plan. Indemnity insurances protect the professional against any unwanted incident at their workplace.

The safety and protection provided by the insurance policy make it an essential tool for everyone. So it is imperative for medical practitioners to avail an indemnity insurance policy.

One should also learn about all the details of medical indemnity insurance for doctors so that they can utilize this policy and handle all the legal and financial implications in case of an unwanted incident involving a patient.