There are many medical professionals in the healthcare industry and doctors are not the only one. Various non-doctor professionals should also obtain their medical malpractice coverage. Many doctor’s office have nurse practitioners as assistants, especially when doctors are busy tending specific patients.
- Nurse practitioners generally have higher degree than typical Registered Nurses and they are actually able to perform many tasks that normally would performed by licensed doctors, such as ordering tests, performing physical exams, analyzing test results and even diagnosing specific conditions. They may also offer prenatal and child care. Because there are high demands for nurse practitioners, they should be covered against unintentional malpractice.
- Travelling nurses are also needed to help patients who are recovering from surgery at home. These nurses are able to perform routine care based on doctor’s prescription. These nurses are usually independent contractors and they may work for multiple agencies. When purchasing malpractice insurance policies, it should be quite clear which agency that should deal with any malpractice allegation. This will help the insurance company to work with specific agencies when there are cases of malpractices.
- Physical therapists are able to perform diagnosis, evaluation and screening as doctors do. They have specific programs that can help patients to recover physically. They also have specific goals that need to be achieved by the patients. When performing such a therapy, the therapist should have a proper analysis on the medical history of the patient. They should know about the medical issues that patients are experiencing. Because physical therapists could potentially work with faulty information that they get from patients or patients’ doctors, they should be protected against any kind of lawsuit.
- Counsellors are also important health professionals that can provide us with proper mental health care. Instead of using standard medical model for treating patients, they use standard development theory to properly assist the mental health of their patients. However, absolute and quick diagnosis can’t be obtained after a few sessions. Although mental care malpractice may not cause bodily harms, patients can be frustrated by the fact that their mental conditions seem to be unaddressed. In this case, they may lose a lot of money without proper results. In fact, it is actually possible for patients to suffer from some kinds of mental setbacks. In this case, counsellors shouldn’t exempt from medical malpractice, because they could subject to lawsuits.
- Midwives are still needed in some areas for home births. They could provide holistic, homeopathic and natural approaches to provide proper care to patients during delivery and labor. Even during a normal ‘textbook’ pregnancy, some kinds of complications may still occur. In this case, we should make sure that we are working with licensed and trained midwives. Because malpractice may still occur, it is important that they are covered. Unwanted complications could happen later, when symptoms are generally undetected at first. Patients may also unnecessarily sue midwives for birth defects.