Medical building insurance – medics need reassuring too
Doctor, dentist, chiropractor, physiotherapist; whatever area of the medical profession you are in, it is vital that your medical building insurance covers you against any unfortunate accidents that would otherwise leave you out of pocket and your patients without a practitioner. The unpredictable and high-risk nature of the job, especially when working with prescription drugs, medicines and large surgical equipment, means you need to be protected against any eventuality.
The first thing that needs to be considered is your professional indemnity cover. Having got your Professional Indemnity insurance in place the next most important thing you need is your practise to be insured. The first thing to be covered in your medical building insurance should be the building itself. Damage, whether accidental or not, and any subsidence could leave your building unsafe to work in and unfit for a medical building; insurance would ensure that any work needed to rectify the problem is done quickly and you are not left with the bill. This will not only help you, but also your patients who could be inconvenienced by even a temporary closure.
Typically, your medical building insurance would also cover your assets within the building which allow you to do your job. Prescription drugs, medicines and medical supplies could be items used on a daily basis, meaning you can’t afford to go without them, which is why your insurance should be able to cover you for the number of these supplies you have stocked. This should also include any supplies kept refrigerated and also the fridge itself; failure of which could leave medical supplies tainted or completely useless, and you paying to replace them.
Surgery bags & equipment and medical equipment are bespoke items which could be lost, stolen or temporarily broken; repairing or replacing these items could be costly without insurance. While items such as these can be replaced or repaired by manufacturers, confidential surgery and patient records cannot, and would take a huge amount of time to compile, time which your medical building insurance should pay for.
As a doctor, you may be called out to a patient’s home or place of work, and need to bring your doctor’s bag with you, containing every day tools that allow you to do your job away from the surgery. It is possible to have this doctor’s bag covered by your medical building insurance, giving you peace of mind even when you are not in your surgery.
There are a few much rarer occurrences which may also prevent you from being able to run your surgery which it is imperative you are covered against so that your business can continue to run smoothly: restricted access due to damage to a surrounding property; the loss of public utilities; discovery of a disease-risk at your surgery; or even a murder or suicide which has taken place in and around your premises. Your medical building insurance should also cover many of the basics which you could overlook, such as public liability insurance and employee liability insurance. The chances of being sued as a medical practitioner are highly increased due to the sensitive nature of your work, so finding a medical building insurance provider that covers any legal costs would be in your best interest.
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