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- A.M. Best Affirms ISMIE Mutual's Financial Stability with Ratings Upgrade
- Experiencing a Practice Makeover? Let ISMIE Know
- Don't Delay Your Practice Management Day
- Out of State Update: Medical Liability Reform
A.M. Best Affirms ISMIE Mutual's Financial Stability with Ratings Upgrade
In a news release issued last week, A.M. Best announced an upgrade to ISMIE Mutual's financial strength rating to A- (Excellent) from B++ and the issuer credit rating to "a-" from "bbb+." The outlook for both ratings has been revised to stable from positive.
In issuing this rating, Best recognizes ISMIE to be a financially secure company with long-term viability in the Illinois medical liability market.
ISMIE Mutual Chairman Harold L. Jensen, MD, said in a statement:
"ISMIE Mutual's financial stability is grounded in a sturdy partnership with our policyholders. A positive outgrowth of this partnership is today's A.M. Best announcement of a ratings upgrade. ISMIE is proud of this rating elevation, especially considering the volatility of Illinois' medical liability climate.
As cited in A.M. Best's announcement, the loss of medical liability reform will continue to be a concern for Illinois; however, ISMIE Mutual looks forward to being there for our policyholders and thriving under every challenge."
Learn more about A.M. Best's rating process.
Experiencing a Practice Makeover? Let ISMIE Know
Undergoing transitions in a medical office can be a challenging time for physicians and staff. Keep your process streamlined by filling out a handy change request form to inform ISMIE when the following changes occur:
- Changes to your contact information (address, phone, fax, email).
- Changes to your office practice location or alterations to your practice time or patient volume (full-time, part-time, retired).
- Changes in practice relationships (partners, shareholders, employees or allied health personnel).
- Additions or deletions to your hospital affiliation.
- Your desire to change your policy limits of liability.
- The decision to add or drop medical practice activities (such as a nursing home practice, medical director or advisor position of a medical or day spa, or practice as a hospitalist).
- The deletion or any additional procedures to your practice (especially procedures not typically performed by physicians practicing within your trained medical specialty).
To report any of these practice changes, complete and fax the aforementioned form to 312-782-2023. For more information, email the Underwriting Division or call 800-782-4767. If you utilize an insurance broker, you may also wish to contact him or her.
Don't Delay Your Practice Management Day
Every day, you and your office staff play a critical role in assessing and resolving risk management issues. To stay ahead of the curve on these challenges, sign up for Practice Management Day on June 27.
This live event, designed for policyholders and staff, will take on several of these issues, including changes in HIPAA; providing tools to improve employee performance and deal with disruptive employees; and exploring how to conduct and use patient satisfaction surveys.
This is the last Practice Management Day until the fall, so if vacation or other plans are in the way, plan ahead for these additional dates:
For more on the HIPAA changes, see ISMIE's updated policies now online
Due to recent revisions in the HIPAA Privacy and Security rules and the federal Health Information Technology for Clinic Health Act, ISMIE has updated its online HIPAA resources.Out of State Update: Medical Liability Reform
Due to recent revisions in the HIPAA Privacy and Security rules and the federal Health Information Technology for Clinic Health Act, ISMIE has updated its online HIPAA resources.
Out of State Update: Medical Liability Reform
Both Florida and New Mexico are in the news for their developments in medical liability reform. Here's the latest.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed into law a sweeping liability reform that, among other provisions, requires expert witnesses in medical liability cases to be involved in the same specialty.
New Mexico's $600,000 damages cap, in place since the 1970s, is currently being challenged in a state Appellate Court - specifically, if the word "occurrence" refers to an overall injury or each act leading to an injury. If it's found to be the latter, doctors worry that "clever" attorneys would inject as many "occurrences" into a lawsuit as possible.
Let's hope New Mexico figures out what Florida recently did: States need to retain physicians, not lose them.