Thomas LaPlaca, MD, discusses the financial benefits of locum work and how forthright Medicus is with all of their opportunities.
O'Neil Pyke, MD, talks about how Medicus has a very competitive compensation for the physicians and has always.
Scott Gonzales, MD, discusses how Medicus recruiters are allways very truthful and how they are very clear with their descriptions of the jobs, which makes the experience as a whole much more enjoyable.
Scott Gonzales, MD, discusses how Medicus recruiters are allways very truthful and how they are very clear with their descriptions of the jobs, which makes the experience as a whole much more enjoyable.
Thomas LaPlaca, MD, talks about how Medicus is very forthright with how they describe the job opportunities and how their very clear descriptions were always correct.
O'Neil Pyke, MD, talks about how Medicus was allways able to create an accurate picture of what the jobs are going to be like, they never mislead him.
There are really only two types of policies that are available for physicians. One is a claims-made policy which is the type used the most by carriers. The other is an occurrence form policy. The main difference between a claims-made policy and an occurrence form policy is the way claims are reported.
A claims-made policy covers you for any covered claim provided you were insured when the claim was made and the claim occurs after the retroactive date on the policy. With a claims-made policy, an insured must report claims in the policy year they were informed of the claim subject to the policy's retroactive date. For example, if a physician has a claim filed against them in 2010 but the claim occurred in 2005, the claim would still fall to their 2010 policy as long as their policy has a retroactive date on or before the claim. If you stop purchasing claims made coverage or coverage at all, you will need to purchase a tail for your previous exposure. Also, when switching carriers, you must keep your retroactive date in place to ensure you have you prior liabilities covered.
An occurrence policy covers you for any covered claim occurring while the policy is in force. In an occurrence form policy, claims are reported to the policy year the claim occurred. As with the previous example, if a physician receives a claim notice in 2010 for an incident that occurred in 2005, the occurrence form policy would have the claim picked up by the 2005 policy that was in effect. With an occurrence policy, it does not matter if you are covered when the suit is brought – you must be covered at the date of the occurrence/treatment. There is no need for tail on an occurrence policy. Note that occurrence coverage is not widely available. Most markets still only offer claims-made coverage.
Your retroactive date is the start date of the first claims-made policy you are actively renewing. You are covered for any covered claim as long as it occurs on or after your retroactive date (also known as prior acts date). That date should remain the same as long as you are purchasing claims-made coverage. If you have a prior acts date of 2008 on your policy and it is now 2013, your policy covers you for the last five years. Your retroactive date is also portable. If you are currently insured with a carrier for professional liability, you can request prior acts coverage with the new carrier and keep your retroactive date intact.
A claims trigger is what causes a carrier to recognize a claim. There are two common triggers: written demand and incident-sensitive trigger. With a written demand trigger, the insured must have an actual suit from a claimant for the policy to begin coverage. With an incident sensitive trigger, the insured can report any incident they feel may give rise to a claim regardless of having received an actual demand from a claimant.
The tail is actually called an Extended Reporting Period (or ERP, for short). The tail gets its name because it becomes active after your policy has terminated (that is, you only purchase the tail endorsement when you terminate a claims-made policy). The "tail" endorsement allows you to report claims that come in after the policy is terminated. For example: You buy a claims-made policy in 2008. You terminate the policy in 2015 and buy the tail. The tail allows you to report claims that are brought against you after you cancel the policy, as long as the claim occurred after your retroactive date and prior to your termination date.
Prior acts are those acts, incidents, claims, etc. that occurred after the retroactive date and before the current policy period.
Coverage ends at 12:01 am of the date of expiration. In other words, if your policy expires July 1 – you have no coverage the day of July 1. The renewal process needs to be wrapped up June 30 to afford you coverage for July 1. Please keep this in mind if you ever have to cancel a policy as well. If you will be working the day of July 1, you will need to be canceled July 2.
statute of limitation sets for the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on an event may be initiated. Each state has its own specific statutes in place.
$1M/$3M is a way that limits are shown. In this case, the first $1M refer to a per-claim limit. That means that $1M is the most that will be paid out for one claims. The second number, $3M, typically refers to an aggregate. The $3M shown here probably would refer to a policy aggregate which means that is the most a policy will pay out in a year. In this case, you can have three $1M claims and the policy would have exhausted its limits. Many locum tenens policies have a physician aggregate, a patient aggregate and a policy aggregate to ensure that claims are paid out fairly and favorably.
By Adam Barlow
Locum work can be beneficial for any doctor. However, it is best to be selective when accepting locum assignments. Picking the right locum assignment will give you something great to add to your CV. Yes, taking on an assignment in a tropical location is nice, but how will that help your career? My recommendation is to save the tropical destination for a family vacation.
A good locum assignment will give you more responsibility than your typical day on the job. Hospitals are always trying to improve what they do and how they do it. Being part of their goals and helping them accomplish them will leave you with good recommendations from hospital executives and medical directors as well as give you something to add to your CV.
Look for an assignment where you will be assisting with a transition between employment models, an expanding practice, a launch of a new program, or a consulting project. All of these scenarios typically lead to positive changes within a hospital. Accepting a locum assignment under these types of scenarios is going to give you experience in helping a hospital make improvements. Being involved in these scenarios shows that you are capable of taking on more responsibility and displaying leadership skills.
A transition between employment models is when a hospital is currently using a practice management organization (PMO) or medical group for physician coverage and they want to transition to a different PMO or group. Another scenario of a transition is when a hospital moves from a PMO or group to a model where the doctors are employed by the hospital. Some hospitals may also decide to replace their in-house staff with the doctors from a PMO or group. More often than not, a transition of these types leaves a gap in coverage that needs to be filled by a locum doctor. These types of opportunities are great because when the new staff comes in, you have the opportunity to be a leader.
An expanding practice means that a medical group or a hospital is growing. Many times, this is because they are doing something well, which gives them the need to bring on more permanent staff. There is usually a gap in time between when they find the need and when the new permanent doctor can begin work. The opportunity with a group is to step in on behalf of the group and be the first impression. If you leave a good impression with the hospital, you can fall into a permanent role with the group or the hospital. The opportunity with the hospital is to fill an urgent need and be part of a successful growing practice. As a locum in this situation, you may be working as the hospital is still searching for permanent candidates. This is a good opportunity to prove yourself and be considered for the position as the permanent doctor or to become a recurring locum for unexpected needs like vacation or holiday coverage.
Working on an assignment in which you are contributing to the launch of a new program such as a hospital medicine or surgery program is an excellent opportunity to show your leadership skills. Hospitals and groups use locums to launch a new program while they search and hire permanent doctors to run the program. During this time, you have the opportunity to lead, learn, and become recognized for your contributions that are helping start a new program. Once the program is launched, you walk away with a unique experience that not too many doctors have the opportunity to participate in.
Consulting projects give you the opportunity to step outside your normal role and see a little more of the big picture. You will start to learn more about the business side of practicing medicine that will make you more valuable in the long run.
