Doctors: Are you covered?

Professional liability insurance (PLI) is the peace of mind for doctors to continue doing what they do best—but don’t mistakenly assume nirvana when scope could exceed your coverage.

Optometry continues moving forward as a profession with legislation that permits doctors to provide more quality, comprehensive patient services under states' scope of practice laws. As these advances take place, it's important that doctors be attuned to resulting, off-setting differences in practice scope allowed by their PLI provider.

In short, doctors should be asking, 'Am I covered for the services allowable under my state's scope of practice?'

Also known as Errors and Omissions (E&O) Insurance or malpractice insurance, PLI helps protect doctors against the financial burdens associated with a potential malpractice lawsuit. It's not only beneficial to have, but also crucial when things take a turn.

AOA Liability & Business Insurance

When it comes to PLI coverage, the last thing doctors need is to be left worrying about whether or not they're covered. And that's where the AOA Liability & Business Insurance program can help. The program guarantees broad protection that covers the range of professional optometric services doctors provide within their states' defined scope of practice—even if the laws change.

AOAExcel^™ has partnered with endorsed business partner, Lockton Affinity, LLC, to offer malpractice insurance—underwritten by A+ (Superior) carriers by A.M. Best—to provide coverage specifically designed to protect ODs in the event they are named in a lawsuit. The program includes:

• Policies written on an occurrence basis.
• Full- or part-time employees are automatically covered (except CT).
• Substitute OD working in doctor’s absence covered at no additional charge (except CT).
• Comprehensive defense coverage including professional review, billing errors and omissions and defense for HIPAA claims provided at no additional cost.

Kevin Johnson, Program Executive at Lockton Affinity, says, "As long as you're performing duties that are approved in your state's scope of practice with this policy, you don't have anything to worry about. Just focus on what you do best—being a doctor of optometry—and we'll do what's best for you."

Learn more about malpractice insurance offered by Lockton Affinity, and find more business services offered through AOAExcel.