Why Are Ophthalmologists Choosing EmPRO as Their Medical Malpractice Insurance Carrier?
EmPRO offers competitive ophthalmology rates for physicians.
Get an instant quote today, and take advantage of EmPRO’s premium discount opportunities.
Spend less time managing your policy and more time caring for your patients
EmPRO understands that the last thing an ophthalmologist needs to do is to spend valuable time with mundane administrative tasks which is why EmPRO has developed EmPROConnectSM.
EmPROConnectSM is a suite of web-based tools designed to ensure that our physicians can easily manage their malpractice insurance policy.
With EmPROConnectSM, physicians can easily receive quotes and apply for malpractice insurance, access their premiums and deductibles, view invoices, generate certificates of insurance, and much more.
With EmPRO, bills can be paid by credit or debit card without incurring a fee.
Claims defense
EmPRO understands that defending our physicians is our number one priority. If you are ever involved in a malpractice suit, you can rest assured knowing that our claims team will work tirelessly to investigate and strategize on your behalf. At EmPRO, we will put together a team of top legal, claims, insurance, and medical experts, including leading experts in ophthalmology, to bring forth the strongest defense possible on your behalf. EmPRO’s Medical Directors will work with our attorneys in the initial phase of the claims process to ensure that your claim receives the optimal defense strategy.
EmPRO understands that the practice of medicine carries inherent risks to the patient and that an adverse event does not necessarily imply negligence. It is therefore important for ophthalmologists to select a malpractice carrier who understands that ophthalmology has inherent risks and that a case should not be settled merely because of a poor outcome.
- Where other malpractice companies settle for business reasons, EmPRO will fight on your behalf.
- EmPRO uses data-analytics to drive strategic planning of claims defense.
- EmPRO’s claims team has a proven track record of success. To learn more, click here.
- EmPRO has a captive medical malpractice law firm, providing in-house legal expertise.
Comprehensive risk management services
EmPRO’s risk management and legal team have decades of experience supporting and advising our physicians on how to best mitigate risk in their practice. EmPRO provides consultation services for both small and large practices.
Access to award-winning education
Our award winning CME and MOC education programs combine the very best risk management and patient safety content into easy to learn, memorable online courses. Our courses are approved by the Medical Society of the State of New York and the New York State Department of Financial Services for the New York State medical malpractice insurance premium discount and excess malpractice insurance program.
Also:
- Stay informed with EmPRO’s legal briefs
- Find specialty-specific risk management content with EmPRO’s original articles, videos, and posts.
- Stay current by following EmPRO’s social media feeds for the latest news, information, and original articles.
- Keep up to date with the latest malpractice trends by attending EmPRO’s webinars.
Physician peer support
No ophthalmologist wants to have an adverse event or become involved in a malpractice lawsuit. Unfortunately, it is impossible to eliminate the risk of litigation, no matter how competent a physician may be. At EmPRO, we have trained, knowledgeable, experienced physicians to provide support to you if the need arises. Our physician peer-supporters are available to have a confidential call to discuss an adverse event, litigation, or any frustrations or challenges related to practicing medicine today.
EmPRO offers:
- One-to-one support
- Virtual group peer support
- In-person group peers support
In Focus – Ophthalmology Malpractice Claims
When considering ophthalmologists workload and the volume of procedures they perform, ophthalmologists face a relatively low number of malpractice claims. Out of 30 medical and surgical specialties, ophthalmology ranks 17th for total indemnity payments and 20th for average indemnity payment.
A review of 10 years of national registry data identified an average indemnity payment for paid malpractice claims to be $280,145 per claim. The two top presenting conditions that lead to a malpractice claim against ophthalmologists are cataracts and myopia. These top presenting conditions correlate with the two most common surgeries associated with a closed claim, namely cataract surgery and corneal surgery, with corneal surgery carrying the highest average indemnity payment for claims against ophthalmologists. Strategies for decreasing malpractice suits in ophthalmology include careful informed consent for surgeries and close follow-up postoperatively. Because ophthalmologists can perform a high volume of surgeries, they can be prone to higher rates of malpractice claims simply due to the number of procedures performed. Eye surgeons should carefully evaluate their workload to ensure they can effectively manage not only the number of procedures they are performing but the follow-up that is required for each case. It is also good practice for ophthalmologists to refer patients to appropriate ophthalmology subspecialists as needed.
References
- Rashmi GM, et al. Clinical Negligence in Ophthalmology: Fifteen Years of National Health Service Litigation Authority Data. April 2013 Volume 120, Issue 4, Pages 859–864. https://www.aaojournal.org/article/S0161-6420(12)00029-2/abstract?code=ophtha-site
- Lee BS. Cataract, corneal surgeries most likely to result in ophthalmology malpractice claims. May 14 2018. https://www.aao.org/editors-choice/cataract-corneal-surgeries-most-likely-to-result-i
Helpful Ophthalmology resources
- American Academy of Ophthalmology https://www.aao.org/
- BMC Ophthalmology biomedcentral.com
- JAMA Ophthalmology https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaophthalmology
- Ophthalmology Times http://www.ophthalmologytimes.com/
