Insurance for Healthcare Regulations including HIPAA for Doctors, Healthcare Providers and other Medical Facilities

    Healthcare providers such as physicians face many risks and challenges practicing in the United States today. A recent CNN survey of primary care physicians said that nearly half would seriously consider getting out of the medical profession in the next three years. They constantly have to keep up to date on the changes in their profession. Physicians also need to constantly monitor their relationships with the Healthcare Insurance providers. They have to pay close attention to State and National legislatures to see what new regulations they have to comply with. For instance, Massachusetts recently passed a new statute regulating all companies that collect and store any private information of its citizens.

    The United States today is as litigious as ever, and lawyers and doctors are still not the best of friends. As new laws get passed by the legislatures, mostly lawyers, new risks are presented to physicians. Privacy is one of the biggest issues in the media. The healthcare industry is far from immune from this issue. In fact there has been numerous acts passed specifically regarding the medical and healthcare industry's regulation of private information.

Legislation such as HIPAA, EMTALA and STARK has caused many headaches for healthcare providers since their enactment. I am not going to be able to help alleviate those headaches, but I will be able to provide an insurance policy that will help those providers sleep a little easier at night. This new program provides defense cost coverage and coverage for civil fines and penalties in regards to healthcare regulations and other proceedings.

    These policies offer payment of defense costs and civil fines for billing errors, including fraud and abuse, voluntary reporting, Qui Tam and commercial payor claims. They also cover HIPAA, EMTALA and STARK. The policies have limits for solo physicians up to $1,000,000 and up to $5,000,000 aggregate limits for physician groups. These policies should name the employees, directors, trustees, officers and the entity as an insured in the definitions page of the policy.

    Network security and Privacy liability insurance is also a very important issue for physicians and other healthcare providing agencies. Network security and Privacy liability insurance is a policy which covers the company against suits due to invasion of privacy and computer hacking. We've all heard the horror stories of different corporations losing laptops, or having private information stolen including Sears, TJX, the Veterans Affairs Administration and the University of Miami.

All companies that collect and store non-public information of their clients should make certain that they have certain procedures in place. For one, everything needs to be reviewed by an expert in computer security. But secondly, even the best laid plans can go awry, that is why every one of these companies also needs to have a privacy liability insurance policy. Healthcare agencies have more personal and private information than anyone other entity including the government. That is why it makes the most sense for those agencies to have the insurance.

    Doctors have a bad view of insurance. They hate health insurance because they never get paid. They hate casualty insurance because it costs too much. And they are correct on both accounts. However, privacy liability insurance policies and the defense coverage for regulatory actions are reasonably priced. Underwriting for these policies is based on how many doctors are in the practice, gross revenue and what you have done to mitigate against these risks, among other things.

    For a free quote, and to speak with a privacy liability insurance expert, please contact Andrew Cohn by calling, 786-382-6833 or emailing, acohn@alcrisk.com. You can also visit the ALC Risk Solutions website at www.alcrisk.com.Andrew has had articles published by the Insurance Journal and Website Magazine regarding privacy liability insurance. Andrew will also be speaking about privacy policies and other insurance matters at the Social Network and Internet Dating Conference in Miami, January, 2009.

Insurance for Healthcare Regulations including HIPAA for Doctors, Healthcare Providers and other Medical Facilities

    Healthcare providers such as physicians face many risks in the United States today. They constantly have to keep up to date on the changes in their profession. Physicians also need to constantly monitor their relationships with the Healthcare Insurance providers. They have to pay close attention to State and National legislatures to see what new regulations they have to comply with. For instance, Massachusetts recently passed a new statute regulating all companies that collect and store any private information of its citizens.

    The United States today is as litigious as ever, and lawyers and doctors are still not the best of friends. As new laws get passed by the legislatures, mostly lawyers, new risks are presented to physicians. Privacy is one of the biggest issues in the media. The healthcare industry is far from immune from this issue. In fact there has been numerous acts passed specifically regarding the medical and healthcare industry's regulation of private information.

Legislation such as HIPAA, EMTALA and STARK has caused many headaches for healthcare providers since their enactment. I am not going to be able to help alleviate those headaches, but I will be able to provide an insurance policy that will help those providers sleep a little easier at night. This new program provides defense cost coverage and coverage for civil fines and penalties in regards to healthcare regulations and other proceedings.

    These policies offer payment of defense costs and civil fines for billing errors, including fraud and abuse, voluntary reporting, Qui Tam and commercial payor claims. They also cover HIPAA, EMTALA and STARK. The policies have limits for solo physicians up to $1,000,000 and up to $5,000,000 aggregate limits for physician groups. These policies should name the employees, directors, trustees, officers and the entity as an insured in the definitions page of the policy.

    Network security and Privacy liability insurance is also a very important issue for physicians and other healthcare providing agencies. Network Security and Privacy liability is a policy which covers the company against suits due to invasion of privacy and computer hacking. We've all heard the horror stories of different corporations losing laptops, or having private information stolen. All companies that collect and store non-public information of their clients should make certain that they have certain procedures in place. For one, everything needs to be reviewed by an expert in computer security. But secondly, even the best laid plans can go awry, that is why every one of these companies also needs to have a privacy liability insurance policy. Healthcare agencies have more personal and private information than anyone other entity including the government. That is why it makes the most sense for those agencies to have the insurance.

    Doctors have a bad view of insurance. They hate health insurance because they never get paid. They hate casualty insurance because it costs too much. And they are correct on both accounts. However, privacy liability insurance policies and the defense coverage for regulatory actions are reasonably priced. Underwriting for these policies is based on how many doctors are in the practice, gross revenue and what you have done to mitigate against these risks, among other things.

    For a free quote, and to speak with a privacy liability insurance expert, please contact Andrew Cohn from Internet Risk Specialist, the technology division of Wilson, Washburn & Forster Insurance. Andrew Cohn has been specializing in the unique risks of the technology and life sciences industries. Andrew has had articles published by the Insurance Journal and Website Magazine regarding privacy liability insurance. Andrew will also be speaking about privacy policies and other insurance matters at the Social Network and Internet Dating Conference in Miami, January, 2009.