Emergency Medicine Malpractice Insurance

Emergency doctors have to be prepared and ready to deal with any variety of situations that come into the emergency room at all hours of the day and night. ER physicians diagnose and treat a range of illnesses including those that come from major life-threatening incidents. Their quick thinking and diligence are relied on for helping those suffering from car accidents, heart attacks, psychological and safety issues, flu, the common cold, and other accidental injuries.

Emergency medicine practice comes with a higher risk since their population of patients has mainly emergency medical needs. 

What is Emergency Medical Malpractice Insurance?

Medical professional liability insurance is a type of professional liability insurance designed to protect licensed healthcare professionals from potential malpractice claims. Physicians and nurses practicing in the emergency field should carry medical malpractice insurance to protect their career and their finances. Costs associated with defending lawsuits related to such claims are also covered under most malpractice insurance coverage.

Why is Malpractice Insurance for Emergency Doctors Important?

Due to the nature of its practice, emergency medicine is considered a high-risk specialty. Patient encounters are short, cases are diverse and unpredictable, and physicians have no chance to establish a consistent relationship with patients. These factors, and others, lead to a high rate of lawsuits filed against emergency medicine physicians.

Potential Causes for Emergency Care Litigation

Missed or mistaken diagnosis : chest pain, abdominal pain, fractures are a few of the most common ailments that are miss diagnosed

Failure to acknowledge all symptoms

Discharging too early 

Failure to admit to hospital

Failure to take a patient’s medical history into account

Delayed testing and/or treatment

Cost of Medical Malpractice for ER Medical Doctors

The cost of emergency medicine malpractice insurance varies greatly depending on your scope of practice and locality. Emergency docs can buy both claims made and occurrence coverage. Premiums vary widely based on the state and other details of the practice. High malpractice insurance premiums are driving many physicians out of emergency medicine, and the possibility of a shortage is a serious issue. Research suggests that tort reform legislation may be able to prevent such a shortage. A study published in The Journal of Emergency Medicine, a prominent journal in the specialty, examined medical malpractice cases in emergency medicine in Illinois and found that the average indemnity in a case was more than $200,000 and that cases that involved patients less than one-year-old took the longest to resolve and paid the most indemnity to successful plaintiffs.

Factors that Can Affect Malpractice Insurance Premiums:

Practice Location

Amount of coverage needed

• More coverage means a higher premium 

Type of policy preferred

• Every policy is different, every medical practitioner has different needs 

Medical speciality

• Higher risk specialities that require unique expertise will naturally have higher premiums

Working hours

• Longer working hours ( more strained individual) will have higher premiums

Previous malpractice claims history

• If you have a history of claims, insurance companies will see you as a higher risk and require a higher premium to cover you

If emergency physicians are concerned about the high cost of malpractice insurance, they should support the efforts of their professional societies to advance tort reform measures. The American College of Emergency Physicians, a leading specialty organization, maintains a medical liability reform position statement that recommends reforms that include limits on non-economic damages, joint liability, structured payment systems, reduced statutes of limitations, limits on attorney contingency fees, stricter qualifications on expert witnesses, greater protection of physicians’ apologies, recognition of local standards of care and greater support of pilot programs. Visit the ACEP website to learn how to get involved in the effort to enact tort reform.

Dig deeper into how much medical malpractice insurance costs.

Save Money on Emergency Medical Malpractice Insurance

Working with a medical malpractice insurance agent/ broker can save you money on your insurance premiums. Emergency medical malpractice insurance brokers shop for the best available policies to determine which ones are best suited for your unique needs at the lowest cost. In the medical malpractice insurance industry, agent commissions are already built into your premium. You pay the same amount for coverage whether you use an agent or purchase directly from the insurance company. Let us be your advocate. 

How Does the Medical Malpractice Agent Process Work?

1. You will submit your information through a secure medical malpractice insurance quote form.
2. You can always call us and speak to an agent immediately.
3. A veteran emergency medical malpractice insurance broker will be assigned to you.
4. We shop your Emergency Physician Malpractice Insurance to every major malpractice insurance company.
5. Your insurance agent will take the time and go over all of your options with you, explaining everything to make certain you make the right decision.
6. We get you your insurance policy at the best price with a major insurance company.
7. At renewal time: We start the shopping process all over again, getting you quotes from all the major malpractice insurance companies to again make certain you’re properly priced.

Why ER Physicians Choose Cunningham Group for Coverage

Cunningham Group provides a personalized experience at no cost to ensure you are with the best insurance fit for you and your needs. Emergency medical physicians practice across a wide variety of settings and specialties, and states vary in rules and regulations, making it important for our insurance agents to take the time to get to know your unique practice and employment situation. This way, our agents can find you the most appropriate emergency doctor malpractice insurance policy to ensure you are covered adequately. We do this by working with all of the major medical malpractice insurance carriers in your state. These relationships with top insurance carriers allow us to get you the best price.

Be sure to ask your insurance agent if you qualify for any professional discounts. You may qualify for a discount if you are “new to practice,” have not had a recent claim and/or are willing to complete an online risk management course with your carrier.

Cunningham Group has helped thousands of family medicine doctors find the right malpractice coverage. We have access to different options in your state to ensure you get the right coverage.

Our service costs you nothing. In the medical malpractice insurance industry, agent commissions are already built into your premium. You pay the same amount for coverage whether you use an agent or purchase directly from the insurance company. Let us be your advocate. Request your free family medicine malpractice insurance quote now.

The Ultimate Medical Malpractice Insurance Guide

We’ve created the ultimate medical malpractice insurance guide for doctors that can answer almost any question you may have — either before you buy or while you have an active policy. This guide applies to all healthcare professionals in every state.

Resources for Emergency Medicine Physicians

American Board of Emergency Medicine
Emergency Medicine (journal)
American Academy of Emergency Medicine
Emergency Medicine Journal Watch
American College of Emergency Physicians
Academic Emergency Medicine
Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
Annals of Emergency Medicine
BMC Emergency Medicine