Many podiatrists have never been sued for malpractice, and that’s a good thing. But just suppose it happens to you? Are you prepared? Truly prepared?

You owe it to yourself to take a good, hard look at your medical malpractice carrier and ask some important questions. You need to delve into the coverage details of your policy, and not just mail in a renewal check year, after year, after year, with no thought to the actual coverage you’re receiving or to your carrier’s win and loss records. Who will defend you should a malpractice claim be brought against you? Will you have the best defense attorneys possible? Does your carrier really understand the practice of podiatric medicine? Do you have a “consent to settle” clause? Is your carrier financially strong enough to back you now and 10 years down the road?

As a podiatric physician, the answers to all these questions are vitally important in order to protect your practice and your career

DPM-Preferred Program is the healthcare malpractice insurance program designed to do just that.

Here�s what you need to consider when selecting a malpractice carrier.

• Financial Strength: The purpose of your policy is to provide defense and pay an indemnity if a claim should ever arise against you. You need a carrier that has the financial stability to back you now, and will have that same stability years from now. The best way to determine this information is to identify the carrier’s rating through a reputable assessment organization such as A.M. Best or Standard & Poor’s. You want to make sure to select a carrier that has a minimum rating of “A.”
• Defense Record: Your insurance provider should have expert defense attorneys who are going to protect your practice, reputation, and assets should a case be brought against you. Furthermore, you want to be sure that your carrier is willing to spend money to provide a substantial defense, rather than settling every case in order to simply make it go away. Claims against a doctor can ultimately harm the doctor’s or practice’s reputation and likely result in higher premiums for coverage in the future.

• Consent to Settle: Your carrier should give you, the doctor, and holder of the policy, the right to decide whether or not a case is going to be settled. After all, the settlement is against your name and practice. Many insurance providers say they have a true consent to settle but they also have a hammer clause, which compels the insured to comply with a carrier’s decision to settle a case rather than fight it in court.

• Price: Look for a carrier that is going to provide you with the lowest sustainable premium. The medical malpractice insurance market is cyclical, and the past few years have given rise to fewer claims than in the past. This has given birth to several “affordable” carriers that are currently able to provide lower premiums than the industry standard. This same carrier will likely not survive when conditions are less favorable. Their departure could leave you abandoned and force you to shop for costly “tail” coverage.

• Additional Coverages: A comprehensive policy should include coverage for the defense cost for extraneous expenses such as administrative hearings, investigations, or defense of HIPAA proceedings, and reimburse you for your loss of earnings during time spent away from your practice due to a claim.

Make DPM-Preferred Your First Choice for Coverage.

DPM-Preferred Program is designed exclusively for podiatric physicians. The insurance is written by Medical Protective, with more than 114 years of experience protecting healthcare providers, while programs for continuing education and risk management are provided through DT Podiatric Preferred, LLC, a risk purchasing group. DPM-Preferred offers the peace-of-mind you deserve as a practicing podiatrist.

Medical Protective (A Warren Buffett/Berkshire Hathaway Company) has been protecting the assets and reputations of healthcare providers for more than a century and it has the highest rated financial stability in the industry to-date.

The DPM-Preferred Program provides additional benefits, including an annual podiatric risk management program to help reduce the risk of incurring a claim, and provides a complimentary subscription to Foot & Ankle Quarterly, a clinical journal for continuing education designed to aid in the fulfillment of physician state licensure requirements.

How do Medical Protective and the DPM-Preferred Program Compare?

• Financial Strength: Medical Protective has the highest-rated financial strength in the industry today, with an A++ rating from A.M. Best.
• Defense Record: Medical Protective has an unsurpassed defense record, winning 90% of all healthcare trials nationwide, with 80% of all filed cases being closed with no payment.
• Consent to Settle: With Medical Protective, all insureds have a True Consent to Settle. Period.
• Price: Medical Protective offers the lowest sustainable premiums in the market today, including a wide array of additional discounts and coverage options.
• Additional Coverages:  Medical Protective includes various additional coverages at no additional cost to the insured, including administrative defense coverage, HIPAA proceedings, and loss of income reimbursement for time spent at trial, etc. Plus, insureds are given additional benefits designed specifically for podiatrists through their membership in the DPM-Preferred Program.

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DPM-Preferred, a nationwide healthcare malpractice insurance program exclusively for podiatric physicians, together with Medical Protective (MedPro), a Warren Buffett/Berkshire Hathaway company and the nation’s most trusted and highest rated carrier in the healthcare industry, are pleased to present this short guide to purchasing medical malpractice insurance. As a member of the DPM-Preferred Program, podiatric physicians have access to: malpractice protection from a company that has been writing insurance since 1899, benefits designed to fulfill state licensure requirements, and annual podiatric risk management courses which will help reduce the likelihood of being named in a suit.