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Tip of the Week: Verify malpractice insurance

Credentialing Resource Center Connection, July 26, 2007

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Although primary source verification of malpractice insurance is not required by The Joint Commission, there are good reasons to verify it, especially from a risk-management standpoint. First, the National Practitioner Data Bank is not perfect and may not capture all payouts. To mitigate this risk, the facility should enquire about payouts on behalf of the physician when verifying coverage. Another reason to verify coverage is to ensure that the physician's coverage is current. Be sure not to expose the hospital to any liability if the physician is under-insured or not insured at all.

This week's tip was sent in by reader Ken Schmidt, standards compliance coordinator at the Veterans Home of California in Barstow. It was a follow-up to last week's Ask the expert: Does The Joint Commission require malpractice coverage verification?

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