As Healthcare professionals, we are keenly aware of the importance of providing excellent quality care to our patients. As Insurance professionals, we strive to reduce loss exposure and cut the frequency and severity of claims. As a team of both Healthcare and Insurance professionals, our Risk Management Division strives to provide physicians and their staffs with sound Risk Management services and strategies in order to:
- Identify areas of potential liability exposure.
- Improve patient relations.
- Improve defensibiltiy of lawsuits.
- Improve quality of care and services.
- Reduce, mitigate and/or eliminate risk exposure.
- Reduce the frequency and severity of Malpractice claims.
J. M. Woodworth’s approach to risk management is to partner with our physician/surgeon policyholders to alert them to liability exposure inherent the practice of medicine and to mitigate the risk by implementing strategies to “do the right thing.” We believe that this simple approach to risk management and patient safety will improve both provider and patient satisfaction. In addition, we believe that by forming a partnership with the hospital’s risk management, patient safety and claims department, both the physician and the hospital can enjoy fewer claims and, when claims do arise, mount a cooperative defense to achieve the best possible outcome for the patient, the physician and the hospital.
Our risk management staff stands ready to work closely with our policyholders and their staff to provide physician and staff education opportunities, keep them apprised of emerging medical liability issues, trends in medical liability claims, and perform on-site assessments and record reviews to identify opportunities for practice improvement.
This assessment tool is an internal loss prevention and quality assurance activity, expressly designed for office staff personnel, with the intent of heightening the non-licensed staff member’s sensitivity to areas of potential risk concern. This includes topics such as customer relations, OSHA requirements, accurate and adequate documentation, human resources, etc. Our Risk Management Clinical Consultants review and evaluate assessment responses and provide the physician and office staff with recommendations in those areas identified as having potential risk exposure, based upon current practice.
Unlike other medical malpractice carriers in the State of New York, the Underwriter of a Risk Retention Group has the ability to apply credits or debits to premiums as is deemed to be appropriate and/or necessary at the time of renewal. Participation in the Risk Management program is favorable, and certain on-line courses will be required. (Courses are predetermined and will change on an annual basis.) Premium credits, however, are not directly tied to these courses, as with the traditional State of New York Insurance products.
We produce and distribute helpful information as it pertains to medical practice, current standards of practice, risk management, legal and insurance issues. We also provide various documentation tools, internal audit tools and policies and procedures.
Our periodic newsletter includes Risk Management information and strategies. We invite our insured physicians to be guest authors for the newsletter in order to share information, knowledge and opinions with fellow members of this physician-owned Risk Retention Group.
A-Z information about diseases, viruses and conditions; prevention information:
http://www.health.state.ny.us/diseases/
Quantities of publications, brochures and educational resources regarding Diabetes free of charge to NY State residents and organizations:
http://www.health.state.ny.us/forms/order_forms/diabetes.htm
On-line educational and professional resources:
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/8405.html
Practice management tools:
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/4555.html
Legal issues and concerns for physicians, including regulatory and compliance, medical staff issues, business and management, patient-physician relationship issues, and general health law topics:
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/4541.html
