If you plan to start or already have a healthcare practice of your own, you’ve achieved a significant professional milestone. Protect that achievement with securing small business insurance for healthcare practices.
As the owner, you have full control over your business, determining everything from what treatments you offer to which insurance provider you accept.
Being a business owner comes with added responsibilities, however. If someone is hurt on your practice’s premise, for example, you may be held liable. This applies even if the incident isn’t medically related.
There are other considerations to take into account as well, such as the need to safeguard patient and employee data against cyberattacks – or to protect your business premises from threats like burglary.
This is why it’s so essential to research
small business insurance for healthcare practices. Find out how such coverage can help protect your business interests below.
The Importance of Small Business Insurance for Healthcare Practices
As a medical professional, your goal is to help people. However, the nature of the work is inherently risky. If a healthcare worker makes a mistake, they can potentially harm someone’s well being.
Even if there hasn’t been any mishandling or error on the healthcare practitioner’s part, misunderstandings can arise when physicians’ and patients’ expectations aren’t aligned.
Thus, it should come as no surprise that healthcare professionals frequently deal with lawsuits. In such instances, professional liability insurance can help protect you, your business, and its assets.
However, professional liability insurance applies specifically to your actions as a medical service provider. It
doesn’t cover general business-related damages that may arise when operating a healthcare practice, like:
- Damage to business property, like expensive diagnostics and medical equipment.
- Business interruptions – for example, if you’re ill and can’t work.
- Employee theft of assets, like medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, or cash.
- General liability issues, like third-party property damage or injury on your business premises.
The healthcare practice environment is becoming even trickier in light of modern challenges. Cyberthreats present new challenges to protecting patient data, for example. Experts speculate that medical malpractice lawsuits will
see an uptick due to the increasing use of electronic health records (EHRs).
Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic poses unique hurdles to keeping patients and workers safe. Lawsuits related to COVID-19 and inadequate worker protection have already begun springing up across the country.
One California case saw a hospital get sued for having employees work without the proper personal protective equipment.
Types of Small Business Insurance for Healthcare Practices
Understanding the different types of small business insurance available can help when you’re exploring your coverage options. Here are some common possibilities.
Commercial Property Coverage
This type of coverage helps to protect your business’s physical assets. It covers situations like theft or damage to essential items you need to maintain everyday business operations, like computers and phones.
Commercial property insurance can be useful whether you are owning or leasing business space. You have to ensure that you configure the policy accordingly.
Business Interruption Protection
Small healthcare practices can especially benefit from business interruption coverage due to the simple fact that they have fewer employees to rely on.
Say you run a small practice, and you are the only practitioner alongside support staff, like an administrative assistant. This type of insurance helps provide coverage if you are injured or ill and can’t work.
General Liability Insurance
General liability insurance can help protect your healthcare practice if third-party claims related to property damage or injury arise that are not related to your professional medical practices. It can also cover issues like a commercial tenant’s legal liability opposite a landlord or advertising injury damages.
Workers’ Compensation Coverage
Workers’ compensation is a type of small business insurance designed to protect your employees. In many states, it’s mandatory if you have more than a certain number of workers.
If a staff member is hurt while performing job-related duties or on your practice’s premises, workers’ compensation can help provide damages for expenses related to medical costs.
Commercial Auto Coverage
If you have commercial automobiles as part of your business practice, this insurance will help protect you from damages related to car accidents. Depending on how the policy is tailored, it could cover everything from medical payments to uninsured motorist coverage.
Cyber Liability Insurance
Cyber liability helps to protect your business in case of claims from third parties regarding data breaches. Say hackers infiltrate your computer network, for example, accessing sensitive patient medical data, personal contact details, and payment information.
The hackers may release this information to the public or even extort your business, threatening to release the data if they aren’t paid. This type of coverage can help pay extortion costs, replace lost business data, and even compensate income lost due to digital disruptions.
How to Choose a Fitting Policy for Your Practice’s Needs
This list of small business insurance for healthcare practices isn’t comprehensive.
Additionally, it’s generalized. The specific policy you need will depend on various factors unique to your business, such as the types of services offered, patient volume, number of workers, and practice size. Even the business’s physical location makes a difference.
When determining what policies your business needs, it’s best to consult an insurance professional with a healthcare focus. An experienced insurance professional can help determine what additional insurances you may need to protect your business best.
The aim is to assess the extent of risk your practice faces – and to prepare accordingly. This is basic risk mitigation and simple best practice in any business environment, regardless of the industry.
An insurance expert can also help streamline your insurance coverage. For example, they can advise on business owner coverage extensions designed to help protect both the healthcare business owner and the healthcare business itself in a single policy.
Coverage for Small Healthcare Practices from HPSO
Healthcare Providers Service Organization (HPSO) offers customizable small business liability insurance coverage for healthcare practices.
Our skilled team understands the healthcare marketplace and the unique challenges you face as a provider. We will be happy to
answer your questions and advise you on the type of small business insurance for healthcare practices that your business might benefit from.
Request your personalized quote today.