Medical technology is ever advancing and changing. Innovation is the key to success however, innovation also introduces new risks and the possibility of something going wrong. Our new cutting edge liability coverage package offers extensive coverage on new and progressive medical technology.
Why proper coverage is so important?
When dealing directly with human beings and administering technology that can directly affect a person’s health, negative consequences are always a risk. When these possible negative outcomes become reality, oftentimes products are recalled. While a company’s basic product liability insurance usually covers the costs of patient injury and property damage, the actual costs arising from the recall are often excluded from this basic coverage. Faulty products are a dangerous reality of the medical technology industry and the costs that come from recalling defective products can cause a serious to a company’s profit margin.
In addition the risks associated with medical products, clinical trials also introduce a company to new risks and costly treatments. In the event that a clinical trial goes wrong, the company is held responsible for providing medical assistance and treatment to the participants who are injured as a result of the trial. The treatment of patients from a clinical trial gone wrong can add unforeseen costs that put excess stress on a company.
With so much private and personal information about your patients in your possession, a security breech can have extremely damaging effects on not only your reputation, but also on your ability to maintain your current customers as well as expand your company with new ones. A customer’s health information is extremely personal and a company’s inability to protect that information can result in a completely lack of trust from their customers. In the event of a security breach a team of consultants who specialize in crisis management can be instrumental in the process of recovery. However the assembly of such a team can be extremely costly.
Our cutting edge medical technology liability options are an amalgam of three essential coverages:
1. Products/Completed Operations Liability
This covers damages resulting from the bodily injury of customers or the destruction of property. This coverage includes claims arising from clinical trials.
2. Errors & Operations Liability
This coverage is for financial losses resulting from defective products or malpractice caused by a harmful action or lack of action that results in error.
3. Information Security Liability
This coverage is for failure to protect customer’s personal health information against unauthorized viewers and the misuse or publicizing of that information.
Our carriers offer special endorsements that can provide the following additional coverages:
1. Insurance for Product Recalls- This coverage reimburses the costs directly resulting from a class I product recall of biotechnology or medical products. This coverage requires that the recall be established by the named insured during the policy period, and that the faulty products have been physically distributed to others.
2. Cyber Expense Coverage- This coverage reimburses the named insured in the event of a security breach for specific costs resulting directly covered wrong doing in cyber security.
3. Crisis Recovery Expense Coverage- This coverage reimburses the named insured costs resulting from efforts to recover from damaging publicity set on by the covered wrong doing in errors and omissions or in cyber information security.
4. Trial Medical Costs Coverage- This covers the cost of medical assistance and treatment of clinical trial participants in the event that something goes wrong during the trial regardless of accountability. This includes the costs of first aid administration, dental, medical, and surgical assistance. As well as, ambulance, hospital, nursing, professional and funeral services.
With Advanced Technology Comes Advanced Risks
As the Healthcare industry constantly progresses and advances, new technologies open the industry up to great opportunities for success. However, at the same time the introduction of new technologies also exposes companies to new risks and unpredictable, negative outcomes. New technologies such as patient-provider communication through portals, mobile data transmission, and electronic healthcare records are especially at risk due to limited cyber security. Cyber-attacks are not a rare occurrence and could result in serious problems for your company. While a malicious attack is a big risk, according to U.S Department of Homeland Security, unintentional malfunctioning as a result of interference is a risk to private health information. In order to properly protect your patient’s private informational, medical technology companies must be fully aware and have a good understanding of cyber security and wireless protection. In addition, these companies should prevent disaster by protecting themselves from liability by using our new cutting edge liability coverage package.
Examples from our carriers of claims that show possible risks to your company
Product Failure: While receiving intravenous treatment, a patient suffered a stroke. Blame fell on the manufacturer of the infusion pumped used in the treatment for failing to supply adequate warnings and training on how to properly use the product. While there was in-service training available, attendance was dissatisfactory. The overall cost from this claim was over $1.9 million.
Errors and Omissions: A customer claimed that a defective prototype of computerized diagnostic equipment that was delivered by the manufacturer resulted in financial loss and did not meet their specifications. The overall cost of this claim was over $250,000.
Software Incompatibility: When a medical technician recorded a lab result mistakenly and quickly corrected the error, the software recorded the change but due to the incompatibility of software, the change was never transferred to the hospital software. This resulted in a patient receiving an unwarranted surgery under false information. The software developer was sued for the mistake. The overall cost was over $2.5 million.
Why stop there? In addition to our cutting edge liability coverage package, we offer a wide variety of insurance products to ensure that companies get all the coverage they need including:
Property
Global
Workers Compensation
Umbrella and Excess
Inland Marine
Boiler and Machinery
Automobile
Information Security Liability
Technology Errors and Omissions
Product Liability
General Liability
How can we help you? Here at Kirkwood Insurance we are dedicated to providing our clients with the helpful resources that they need to succeed.
Crisis Prevention Professionals: Our committed team of crisis prevention professionals carefully assess risk exposures and helping medical technology companies learn how to control and shrink the possibility of injury or loss.
Underwriters: Our underwriters solely devote themselves to the medical technology industry. They are extremely knowledgeable on business and legal issues and use that knowledge to establish ambitious coverage proposals.
Claim Specialists: Our medical technology claim specialists are extremely skillful and quick on their toes when it comes to analyzing situations, managing claims, and making intelligent decisions.
Attorneys: We have attorneys on staff solely who specialize in medical technology companies and are knowledgeable on the businesses risks and challenges.
We at Kirkwood Insurance are dedicated to providing medical technology companies with our wide variety of helpful resources and our informed and committed staff in order to equip our policyholders with the coverage that they need.
Types of companies we cover
v Analytical instruments
v Research laboratories
v Medical, surgical and diagnostic instruments
v Implants
v Medical distributers
v Research institutes
v Monitoring equipment
v Telemedicine
v Healthcare IT
v Contract research organizations
v X-Ray, MRI, ultrasound
v Dental and orthodontic instruments and technologies
v Laboratory apparatus and instruments
v Medical supplies
v Diagnostic test kits and reagents
v Research and development
v Veterinary instruments and technologies
v Electronic medical records software developers
v Healthcare and medical software developers
