Physician liability insurance is required by law in most states in America, but in others is not necessary. However, with most healthcare professionals facing at least one form of litigation within their career, liability insurance has never been more important.

Physician liability insurance, also sometimes referred to as medical malpractice insurance is a type of liability insurance that covers physicians and other healthcare professionals. This insurance protects physicians from liability associated with wrongful practice or treatment.

This liability is often in response to physical or mental harm, injury, or in some cases, property damage. As a physician, you are constantly providing professional healthcare advice. However, if a patient misinterprets this information and causes harm to themselves, then you may be faced with a lawsuit. The same applies for any misleading or inaccurate information you pass on to patients, alongside any treatment that results in further bodily harm.

As you can imagine, the possibilities are endless. However, examples of cases could include:

  • You miss-diagnose an injury, causing further damage to the patient as they were miss-informed
  • You prescribe too high a dose of medication and cause damage to a patient
  • The preventive healthcare measures you put in place were inaccurate and detrimental to the patients health

While this damage to a patient is accidental, it does happen. 

Is physician liability insurance essential?

Physician liability insurance is required in the majority of states in the United States of America. However, you can practice without this, but this is not recommended.

Should a former patient submit a lawsuit or involve you in a litigation claim and you do not have insurance in place, you will be paying out of pocket. This can quickly become very expensive, threatening your livelihood and your perhaps even your business.

Liability insurance covers all associated litigation costs, protecting you against compensation claims. Without this insurance in place, if facing litigation, even if you win, this will still rack up quite the bill.

If you’d like to find out more about our Physician liability insurance, including current prices, click here.