Essay On Malpractice Insurance

Words: 768
Pages: 4

Many insurers have provisions in their agreements that provides malpractice coverage for telehealth services. However, some insurers retain the right to selectively deny coverage. Common reasons for selective denial of coverage include: 1) the patient or service provided is not located in a state where the insurance company is licensed; 2) the physician/exposure presents an above-average risk; 3) coverage disallows telemedicine direct patient care, but does allow peer-to-peer physician consultations. Ultimately, insurance is regulated at the state level, and this is not always compatible with telemedicine-based practices.
Some malpractice policies only cover encounters within the state in which the physician practices and is licensed. Consequently, physicians who provide telemedicine services to patients in states in which they are unlicensed can risk uninsured claims under the terms of the carrier’s policy. Moreover, some carriers assert they are only required to cover claims against
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As a general rule, states allow a patient to bring a medical malpractice claim in the courts of their resident state against a nonresident physician who practices telemedicine in the patient’s state. Although medical malpractice claims have been brought against telemedicine providers for many years, much less is known of these lawsuits than is known about those arising in an in-person setting because only a fraction of the total malpractice claims involve telemedicine. Moreover, the majority of telemedicine malpractice claims are resolved via confidential settlement agreements, and are not reported in public court