If you are facing a frivolous lawsuit or simply shopping for medical malpractice coverage, you are probably wondering if this insurance can cover the costs of frivolous lawsuits—a not-so-uncommon headache. Here’s what our medico-legal experts want you to know.
1. Get the Right Medical Malpractice Policy
First, know that your medical malpractice should indeed cover the costs of frivolous lawsuits, and make sure that you understand your policy’s limits and reporting requirements. To help you mitigate issues, we’ve written several blogs about scenarios you’ll want to avoid:
- Doctor Screwed by Med Mal Carrier—And How to Prevent It From Happening to You
- Surviving a $1.5 Million (or More) Medical Records Breach
- Crazy Cases Against Doctors — and Inexplicable Settlements
At Medical Justice, we can help our member physicians obtain a solid policy, and we also recommend proactively deterring lawsuits (with our help) in several more ways than that.
2. Join Medical Justice for Deterrence Strategies & Assistance with De-Escalation
While your policy may include financial coverage, being prepared when a frivolous lawsuit arrives is one of Medical Justice’s specialties. As a Medical Justice member, you will have access to expert-approved templates for patient forms and documents, as well as to our medico-legal hotline, to help you lay the groundwork of a healthy practice and get answers fast when you need them.
Further, we have assisted countless doctors to intervene early and effectively in issues like difficult patients, medical board complaints, and legal intimidation with sound, personalized solutions, such as patient dismissal letters.
“Dr. Segal was very gracious with his time and resources. I had a difficult time finding someone that had the breadth of knowledge and expertise I needed until being connected with Dr. Segal. His expertise is the best available. For physicians I highly recommend Medical Justice Services. It will save you time, money and give you peace of mind.”
—5-Star Google Review
Members of eMerit, our online reputation management program, also benefit from assistance with negative online reviews when they arise, helping to de-escalate patient conflicts early in the process.
Use Common-Sense Strategies in Your Practice
In addition to having an ironclad med-mal policy and joining Medical Justice, we recommend three simple steps to help de-escalate conflicts and deter frivolous lawsuits from their earliest stages:
1. Identify problem-patients early
2. Know when to dismiss a problem-patient
3. Know when to answer a problem-patient’s demands
We explain how to go about each of these steps in our guide, linked below.
However, if you do find yourself in the crosshairs of a malpractice suit, it’s time to hire legal counsel.
3. Know When to Hire Legal Help
When a patient conflict has escalated to a frivolous lawsuit or you have a more complicated patient dismissal scenario, this is the time to seek out legal counsel. At this point, we are happy to connect our members with experienced medico-legal experts in our network for personalized help navigating this tricky terrain.
Let’s get started together.
To invest in the future of your practice, consider joining Medical Justice today. Click here to schedule a free 15-minute basic consultation to learn how we can assist you.
