As a physician, medical malpractice insurance is a valuable resource that can protect your practice in the event of a mistake or oversight. Unfortunately, many medical care providers lack the understanding of what contributes to their medical malpractice insurance costs. When you understand what factors affect your premiums, you can more effectively address exposure risks and save yourself money over the life of your coverage. Here are some of the most common elements that affect your medical malpractice insurance quotes.
Where Is Your Practice Located?
Believe it or not, the location of your practice is one of the factors that can affect the cost of your malpractice insurance. Every state's tort laws are different, and those tort laws directly affect insurance claims and outcomes. As a result, your malpractice insurance premiums will vary depending on the state where you live. In addition, states with higher minimum malpractice limits will lead to higher policy premiums as well.
What Medical Discipline Do You Work In?
The discipline of medicine that you have chosen to work in will also affect your policy premiums. Higher risk disciplines, such as cardiothoracic surgery, will have higher malpractice premiums than a family care provider because of the increased risk associated with the field and the types of treatments that are involved. The higher the risks of your chosen discipline, the greater the premiums for your malpractice insurance.
Do You Have Any Previous Claims?
Most medical malpractice policies will include premium discounts for those policyholders who have never had to file a claim. If you've never had any problems with medical malpractice issues or have never needed any settlements, you may find that your malpractice premiums are lower than you might expect because of these cost savings.
How Many Hours Do You Work?
Medical malpractice quotes will also include details about the hours that you work. After all, care providers who work part-time hours have fewer work hours in which to potentially make a mistake, and therefore they are in a lower risk category than those who work full-time hours. You'll find that you get a premium discount for part-time hours, saving you money over the life of your policy.
These are just a few of the many factors that you should understand when it comes to your medical malpractice policy quotes and the elements that contribute to the premiums that you're quoted. The more you understand, the easier it is to ensure that you provide accurate, comprehensive information for the quote process.
Share