June 12, 2019 by matray

MIEC announced its inaugural MIEC Summit for Insurance Defense will take place in Boise, Idaho, on June 20, 2019. The Summit for Insurance Defense is a new annual regional seminar series. Each year it will be hosted in one of MIEC’s territories. The goal of this seminar series is to bring together physicians, practice managers and legal professionals to learn and network.

The event will take place at Boise’s Riverside Hotel where attendees can pick one of two educational seminar tracks focusing on either Idaho Law or Patient Safety & Risk Management. Each track features two, one-hour sessions with communal breaks in between. Attendees will learn proactive methods of protecting a practice from potential liabilities and how best to defend clients, with the opportunity to earn CLE credits for those eligible.

The legal track speaker panel features staples of the Boise legal community: Raymond Powers, Esq., of Powers Farley PC; Keely Duke, Esq., of Duke Scanlan & Hall, and Andrew Brassey, Esq., of Brassey Crawford & Howell, PLLC.

During the second legal session, attendees will learn effective strategies to address jury selection in cases involving hospital and independent providers, effective voir dire strategies and latest jury selection trends. Furthermore, attendees will gain insight into being able to successfully navigate the challenges of presenting evidence in an abbreviated trial schedule, prepare and present witnesses in theses challenged schedules, and develop tactics to keep jurors engaged through disruptive trial schedules.

The patient safety risk management track features nationally recognized practice management specialists Debra Phairas, president of Practice & Liability Consultants, LLC, and Kim Stanger of Holland & Hart, LLP. Their sessions will center around minimizing practice liability. Focusing on aging, impaired or otherwise disruptive physicians in a practice, as well as addressing ways to minimize risk when employing non-physicians in your practice.

Following the educational seminars, both tracks will come together for a joint keynote presentation from Justin Skeesuck and Patrick Gray. Justin and Patrick have had a unique friendship that spans over 42 years. Despite the many challenges of a progressive neuromuscular disease robbing Justin of the use of his arms and legs, the two seek to live life without reservation. Justin and Patrick use their life/work experiences and their adventures as the backdrop to which they explore concepts such as leadership, teamwork, relationship and the power of the human collective.

Finally, the seminar will close out with a social cocktail hour, allowing attendees to meet, socialize and network among fellow medical and liability professionals.

To learn more and to register for FREE, please visit the Summit for Insurance Defense page by clicking HERE.

June 12, 2019 by matray

During the past fifteen years, the number of malpractice claims filed has dropped significantly (as much as 27% according to the CRICO 2018 CBS Benchmarking Report). That's good news for insurance companies, doctors and hospitals.

But while the frequency of claims went down, the cost of defending a malpractice lawsuit rose materially (3.5% for all claims and 5% for those without indemnity, according to the CRICO 2018 CBS Benchmarking Report) during that same period, with annual trend rates ranging in the mid to upper single digits for some segments.

The reduction in the frequency of claims has masked the problem of increased defense costs. And this increase is having an industrywide impact. Before claims costs get any higher, now is the perfect time to take a serious look at what your organization is doing to handle these claims and, based on your findings, how to reduce these rising costs.

So what's behind the increased costs of defending a claim? What processes are likely to have the biggest impact on them? Do you have confidence that the data you're collecting will support your claims strategies going forward? And are you open to some nontraditional strategies that could help you better control costs?

Get answers to these questions and more when you register to attend "The Growing Cost of Defending Medical Malpractice Claims and How to Reverse the Trend for Doctors, Hospitals, and Insurance Companies" on Thursday, June 27, 2019. We've put together a panel of experts who will provide you with a medical malpractice insurance industry status report and a picture of where things are headed. You'll learn how and why costs are increasing and what you can do to reduce them.

Click Here to Register

Experts Make Sense of It All
Listen as Mark Reynolds of CRICO reviews the results of its most recent study Medical Malpractice in America: A 10-Year Assessment with Insights. Find out some of the reasons that claims-and even the time to process those claims-are down. You'll learn why the number of cases with multiple defendants has increased by about 20% and how that can affect your costs. And why the largest increase in those costs is from cases with no indemnity payment at all.

Next, you'll hear from Chad Karls. His company, Milliman Inc., has collected significant data on the cost of defending a claim. He'll share some of what Milliman has learned from this data and provide you with insights and examples of how, in some cases, nontraditional thinking is challenging the way claims are managed to better control costs.

And finally, Tim Smith from the NORCAL Group will show you how to analyze data and put it to practical use within your organization to enhance the value proposition for your customers. You'll learn what NORCAL did to uncover outdated strategies and how they were able to eliminate waste and drive efficiency in a coordinated and collaborative manner.

You'll come away with insights that will help you develop actionable strategies that you start working on as soon as you log off your computer at the end of the webinar.

Who Should Attend?
Whether you're a medical liability insurance professional, hospital or healthcare executive, or risk manager-anyone who needs to get a better handle on the rising cost of defending malpractice claims and ways to reverse this trend — this is one webinar you can't afford to miss.

Register today to guarantee your place at this essential learning session. And remember that your entire team in one location can participate with you when you register.

Medical Liability Monitor Webinar at a Glance
DATE: Thursday, June 27, 2019 TIME: 2 p.m. EDT; 1 p.m. CDT; 12 p.m. MDT; 11 a.m. PDT
PLACE: Your computer
COST: $147 per site (unlimited attendance at one location) through 6/14/19, $197 thereafter
TO REGISTER: Click here or email leslie@medicalliabilitymonitor.com

Here is just some of what you'll learn during this in-depth 90-minute conference:
• Why the cost of defending medical malpractice claims is going up — and what you can do to reverse the trend.

• How to determine which of your defense firms is best for specific types of claims.

• How to find and fix some of the problem areas within your organization.

• Where to find data you can use to streamline processes, create strategies, and cut costs.

• How to turn your data into usable, actionable information to effectively manage legal costs.

• How to switch from "the way it's always been done" to thinking outside the box, and the potential benefits of trying something new.

• The data you need and how to use it to support your claims strategies going forward.

• The increased use of "disclosure and apology" and whether or not it reduces the likelihood of a lawsuit... and much more!

Distinguished Presenters
Chad C. Karls, FCAS, MAAA, has been a principal and consulting actuary with Milliman since 1993. His areas of expertise include property and casualty insurance, particularly ratemaking, loss reserve analysis, and financial planning. Mr. Karls also has an understanding of defense costs and has developed an advanced analytics platform that extracts the intelligence from attorney invoices.

Mr. Karls has published 50 articles on medical professional liability issues in Best’s Review, Medical Liability Monitor, National Underwriter, Bureau of National Affairs – Health Care Policy Report, and Inside Medical Liability and has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Best Week, U.S. Insurer, American Medical News, and Medscape Medical News. In addition, Mr. Karls has spoken more than 100 times at various industry conferences, including those sponsored by the Casualty Actuarial Society, the Medical Professional Liability Association, A.M. Best Company, and others.

Mr. Karls has a B.S. in actuarial science from the University of Wisconsin and is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Mark E. Reynolds is President and CEO of the Risk Management Foundation of the Harvard Medical Institutions Incorporated (CRICO). CRICO insures 25 hospitals, nearly 13,000 physicians, and more than 200 other health care organizations for professional liability. The CRICO program also insures 100,000+ employees, including nurses, physician assistants, and clinical support staff. In addition, CRICO is a leader in patient safety, simulation and team training, and risk management.

Mr. Reynolds has 20 years of experience in the healthcare and insurance industries, most recently as CEO of Neighborhood Health Plan of RI, where his outcome-driven approach resulted in it being rated among the nation’s top 10 Medicaid health plans.

Timothy Smith is the Chief Claims Officer of the NORCAL Group. With more than 30 years of experience in the legal and insurance industries, he has held claims leadership positions at various national and local companies.

Prior to working in the insurance industry, Mr. Smith practiced law in California and Illinois, specializing in medical malpractice, products, and general liability.

Mr. Smith received his Bachelor of Science in commerce/accounting from DePaul University in Chicago and his Juris Doctor from the McGeorge School of Law in California.

Click Here to Register