Victoria Reyes, MD, Elected to the Integris Group Board of Directors

June 30, 2022 by matray

Integris Group announced the election of Victoria Reyes, MD, to a three-year term on its board of directors. The election became official at the Integris Group Incorporated Annual Meeting on June 11.

“We were pleased to see that membership recognized the wealth of knowledge and experience that Dr. Reyes brings to the board of directors,” said Stephen J. Gallant, Integris Group chief executive officer. “Her presence on the board will prove to be an asset to the entire company as we continue to expand our footprint and offerings to members.”

Reyes is board-certified in anatomic pathology and clinical pathology. Throughout her career, she has served on numerous committees that focus on safety and quality in the laboratory and patient care setting. She has been the chair of the Pathology Department and the laboratory medical director at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital since 2009 and Westerly Hospital since 2013. She is currently in private practice at Pathology Consultants of New London.

Bill Burns to Join MPL Association as Vice President of Research

June 30, 2022 by matray

The MPL Association announced Bill Burns will join its ranks as vice president of research on Sept. 6, 2022. Burns comes to the Association from Conning where he spent five years as a director on the insurance research team with a specific focus on the MPL industry. Prior to joining Conning, Burns was the head of reinsurance loss reserving at Everest Re. He also has served as the chief actuary at two medical professional liability companies and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences. He also served as guest editor of the Medical Liability Monitor's Annual Rate Survey from 2019-2022.

“Bill will join the Association to create, oversee and operationalize research strategies. In this role, he also will direct the Data Sharing Project,” said Brian Atchinson, MPL Association president and CEO. “Bill brings with him a wealth of expertise in the MPL community. We are pleased to welcome him to the Association.”

The Doctors Company Celebrates 15-Year Anniversary of the Tribute Plan

June 14, 2022 by matray

The Doctors Company announced today that it has paid more than $140 million in Tribute Plan awards during the past 15 years to its members. Tribute was the first national plan to recognize retiring doctors for their loyalty and commitment to superior patient care, according to the medical professional liability insurer, and the largest such benefit in the industry.

According to The Doctors Comapny, more than 11,500 Tribute awards have been paid during the last 15 years — the largest award being $264,808.

“The Tribute Plan is tangible proof of our mission to advance, protect and reward the practice of good medicine,” said Richard E. Anderson, MD, FACP, chairman and CEO of The Doctors Company and TDC Group. “I'm pleased that in our recent survey of members, 92% recognized the importance of Tribute and 90% expressed satisfaction with our unmatched benefits.”

According to The Doctors Company, its financial strength — with more than $6.5 billion in assets and $2.5 billion in member surplus — empowers the company to offer these rewards without compromising its ability to protect its members’ livelihoods or pay claims. The millions of dollars that are in Tribute accounts today come from the capital of the company, not from premiums, and Tribute payments do not affect The Doctors Company’s ongoing dividend program.

Medical Liability Monitor June 2022 Issue Highlights

June 9, 2022 by matray

The June 2022 issue of Medical Liability Monitor features the following articles and more. Click here to subscribe today.

MPL Industry Losses Narrow, Barriers to Underwriting Profit Remain The U.S. medical professional liability insurance (MPLI) market posted an underwriting loss for the sixth consecutive year, with a 108% combined ratio in 2021. This result represents a significant improvement from 113% in 2020, and reverses a trend of four consecutive years of weakening performance. Strong written premium growth, driven by a level of premium rate increases unseen in many years, provides a basis for further performance improvement in 2022. However, the segment’s return to a future underwriting profit is tempered by uncertainty about the durability of pricing momentum and the effects on incurred losses from economic volatility, higher inflation and any post-pandemic revival of heightened litigation activity …

AM Best Report, Webinar Examine the Difficult Environment for MPL Despite improving its profitability last year, AM Best maintained a negative outlook for the medical professional liability (MPL) insurance segment in 2022. In correlation with the publication of this year’s MPL market segment report, Difficult Environment for U.S. Medical Professional Liability, Best hosted a roundtable-style webinar on the state of the MPL market, where industry leaders discussed the data underlying the report. The following consists of data from the special report and commentary from its corresponding webinar ...

COVID Still a Concern as Medical Professional Liability Association Annual Conference Looks Toward the Future The Medical Professional Liability (MPL) Association hosted its annual conference at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City from May 16 - 18. With two-thirds of Americans fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and a majority of states having lifted health-related restrictions, an optimism that the U.S. healthcare delivery system is settling into a new normal permeated the three days of in-person educational sessions and networking events. Following are some highlights from the educational sessions at this year’s MPL Association Conference …

Ripple Effects of Abortion Restrictions Confuse Care for Miscarriages As the Supreme Court appears poised to return abortion regulation to the states, recent experience in Texas illustrates that medical care for miscarriages and dangerous ectopic pregnancies would also be threatened if restrictions become more widespread. The laws in Texas — and perhaps elsewhere soon — could boost physicians’ vulnerability to medical malpractice lawsuits. Consider the patient whose miscarriage care is delayed and who develops a serious infection …

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