11 Critical Risks Facing the Healthcare Industry

Healthcare providers continue to face numerous emerging challenges.

By: ACE Group | June 1, 2015

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From pandemics to violence in hospitals, alarm fatigue to healthcare-acquired infections, healthcare organizations will be put to the test in the coming months and years.

Added pressure from new regulatory requirements under the Affordable Care Act makes the future even more challenging.

ACE_BrandedContent When you factor in the daily demands healthcare organizations face in their quest to provide quality patient care, it’s clear that there are many hurdles that can disrupt facility operations and put employee and patient safety at risk.

”Today’s healthcare landscape is arguably the most difficult ever,” said Diane Doherty, Vice President, ACE Medical Risk Group. “If not managed properly, these critical issues can cause other unwanted outcomes such as an increase in medical malpractice and workers’ comp claims, government fines and penalties, and may negatively impact the organization’s brand and reputation.”

The following are some of the top critical issues facing hospital leadership.

1) Cyber Risk

ACE_BrandedContent The healthcare industry’s move to electronic healthcare records has created new patient privacy exposures as records are more easily accessed by consultants, vendors and other third parties for efficient operation, and targeted by cyber criminals. Additionally, healthcare organizations face exposure to cyber risks that could have significant impacts on their operations, including shutting down critical, health-related systems.

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Data breaches and network disruptions can jeopardize an organization’s financial stability, security and reputation. Standard general liability policies often do not adequately cover perils associated with cyber and technology related exposures. Cyber liability insurance can address coverage gaps while also enabling companies to transfer risks associated with cyber, such as patient privacy and notification, crisis management, and forensic analysis expenses as well as certain regulatory fines, indemnity payments and legal costs.

“Cyber hacks and data breaches are a major issue facing the healthcare industry today,” said Renee Carino, Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer, ACE Medical Risk Group. “It’s important now more than ever, that healthcare organizations work closely with their insurance carrier to assess this exposure and develop effective risk management strategies and ensure the proper coverage is in place.”

”Today’s healthcare landscape is arguably the most difficult ever. If not managed properly, these critical issues can cause other unwanted outcomes such as an increase in medical malpractice … and may negatively impact the organization’s brand and reputation.”
— Diane Doherty, Vice President, ACE Medical Risk Group

2) Healthcare Infections

ACE_BrandedContent Healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) cost the U.S. healthcare system billions of dollars each year and lead to the loss of tens of thousands of lives. At any given time, about 1 in 25 hospital patients has at least one such infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Healthcare-acquired infections also come with a financial price, costing up to $9.8 billion a year, according to research published in 2013 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Among many solutions, healthcare organizations should ensure all sanitation systems are up to date, operational and ensure that staff understands how to properly use the systems to keep patients safe. They also should continue to remind staff and visitors about basic infection control techniques.

“Basic infection control techniques should be at the forefront of the risk management process,” said Doherty. “For example, it’s critical that medical personnel must wash their hands with antiseptic soap and water every time they treat patients to help reduce the spread of infections.”

3) Telemedicine

ACE_BrandedContent Advances in technology, the current physician shortage and the dramatic increase in the number of patients seeking care under the Affordable Care Act have led a growing number of healthcare facilities to expand their use of telemedicine to deliver services to patients in hospitals as well as in remote locations. Over half of all U.S. hospitals now use some form of telemedicine to treat patients.

Telemedicine may also result in allegations of negligence if healthcare providers do not have the proper training, experience and credentials. Currently, there is no federal standard of clinical guidelines for telemedicine.

In developing strategies to mitigate this risk, a few key processes and areas that should be examined include credentialing and peer review, medical staff by-laws and of course, CMS guidelines.

“It’s important now more than ever, that healthcare organizations work closely with their insurance carrier to assess this exposure and develop effective risk management strategies and ensure the proper coverage is in place.”
— Renee Carino, Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer, ACE Medical Risk Group

4) Violent Incidents in Hospitals

ACE_BrandedContent Hospitals may be places of healing, but they also have become the scene of an increasing number of violent incidents. Such incidents not only put patients at risk but also medical professionals, who are often the targets of attacks, harassment, intimidation and other disruptive behavior.

The incidence rate for violence and other injuries in the healthcare and social assistance sector in 2012 was over three times greater than the rate for all private industries. The Joint Commission, meanwhile, reports increasing rates of assault, rape and homicide in healthcare facilities. Perpetrators can include patients, family members, visitors and vendors as well as current and former healthcare employees.

Hospitals and healthcare organizations should enact a zero-tolerance policy, one that states that no form of violence — physical, verbal or psychological — will be tolerated, and that all offenders will be subject to disciplinary action, including termination.

“Healthcare organizations should develop a comprehensive violence prevention program that is specific to their organization and analyzes potential safety hazards and implements strategies to prevent them,” Carino said.

5) Alarm Fatigue

ACE_BrandedContent Hospital nurses hear them constantly — the beeps and chirps of alarms on medical devices, such as ventilators, cardiac monitors and pulse oximetry devices. While alarms are designed to draw attention to a potential problem, they can easily be tuned out by overwhelmed medical professionals, who may then fail to respond as they should.

Alarm fatigue is a growing problem for hospitals and the consequences can be fatal. The Joint Commission’s Sentinel Event database includes reports of 98 alarm-related events between January 2009 and June 2012. Of the 98 events, 80 resulted in death, 13 in permanent loss of function and five in unexpected additional care or extended stay. Alarm fatigue was rated a top concern by 19 out of every 20 hospitals in the United States, according to a national survey presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Technology in Anesthesia in 2014.

To reduce the risk of patient harm from alarm fatigue, the Joint Commission, along with the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation and the ECRI Institute, offered a list of precautions, including ensuring that there is an effective process in place for safe alarm management and response in high-risk areas.

Additional Risks

6) Preparedness for Pandemics

7) Healthcare Reform/Physician Integration

8) Disruptive Staff Behavior

9) Environmental Pollutants

10) Emergency Preparedness

11) Obesity Epidemic

Please download the whitepaper, “Critical Risks Facing the Healthcare Industry” to learn more about the additional risks listed above. The paper also provides a deeper perspective on the risks covered in this article as well as additional risk management recommendations.

This article was produced by the R&I Brand Studio, a unit of the advertising department of Risk & Insurance, in collaboration with ACE Group. The editorial staff of Risk & Insurance had no role in its preparation.

With operations in 54 countries, ACE Group is one of the largest multiline property and casualty insurance companies in the world.

How a Carrier Partner Can Help Navigate a Challenging Management and Professional Liability Market

A combination of a choppy economy with increased claims frequency and severity could lead to rate increases in the Management & Professional Liability market.

Rates in the management & professional liability (M&PL) markets were on the rise from 2020 to early 2023 and are now falling rapidly.

M&PL divisions manage a number of different insurance products including management liability (D&O), professional liability (E&O), employment practices liability (EPL), fiduciary liability policies, cyber, etc. In 2023 and into 2024, a big influence on the marketplace has been the extremely aggressive and softening public company D&O market.

Though these rates have been softening for management liability, that may change over the next few years as companies continue to adjust their business models motivated by economic uncertainty. Layoffs were up nearly 200% last year, Forbes reported, even as other recession indicators, like the inflation rate, improved. A recession could lead to an increased claim activity and force carriers to raise rates.

“Whenever there is a meaningful downturn in the economy, we tend to see claim frequency pop up,” said George Schalick, Jr., senior vice president of the Management and Professional Liability Division at Philadelphia Insurance Companies (PHLY).

With continued fiscal uncertainty, businesses potentially already burdened with pandemic-related claims should seek a carrier with a long history in M&PL products. They will provide much-needed risk management guidance and be better positioned to support their insureds during market fluctuations.

Why Insureds Might See an Uptick in M&PL Claims

George Schalick, Jr., Senior Vice President of the Management and Professional Liability Division, Philadelphia Insurance Companies

The current soft market might come as a bit of a surprise as it does not track with previous underwriting cycles and economic conditions. Afterall, many privately held and non-profit organizations struggled during the early days of the pandemic with shutdowns and rapidly declining revenues. But the Government assistance programs, like the Paycheck Protection Program loans, helped keep many afloat during the tough times.

“During COVID many organizations stopped doing business until they were able to sort out all of the health and safety challenges,” Schalick said. “They were forced to lock down, but then all the government assistance programs allowed them to keep people employed. The increased volume of claims we anticipated we would see coming from the lockdowns and restrictions that were imposed upon businesses in the U.S. didn’t manifest at first.”

“Just because there wasn’t an onslaught of reported claims at the beginning of the pandemic, doesn’t mean the circumstances that would give rise to a claim being reported didn’t occur. Courts and the judicial system were closed or slowed and now that they are back open, we’re starting to see the circumstances that occurred during the COVID lockdowns becoming claims today,” Schalick said. “Litigation is progressing.”

Added to the delayed pandemic litigation is a concern over newer claims that might be filed as the country inches toward an economic downturn. Though a recession was avoided in 2023, experts think a soft dip could occur in 2024, with 76% of economists saying there’s a 50% or less chance of an economic downturn this year — that almost always results in more management liability claims.

“During the Great Recession in 2008, we saw an almost immediate spike in claims because of the economic conditions and the pressure it placed on organizations. They were making personnel changes with significant belt tightening almost immediately.” Schalick said.

What’s in Store for M&PL Policy Rates in 2024?

Despite an uptick in claims and increased economic uncertainty, management liability rates haven’t increased, resulting in market-wide pricing levels that may not meet the increased pressure of rising settlements and jury verdicts.

“Rates are going the other direction and settlement values are not falling,” Schalick said.

The mismatch between rates, claim frequency and severity is, in part, because carriers experiencing the dramatic soft market in the public D&O market are seeking premium gain in the private and non-profit market.

“In the public company market, the rates have been decreasing significantly. The rates were increasing in the private, not-for-profit market, and rightfully so, but there’s a desire to supplement overall mid-size D&O for carriers who also write private not-for-profit, and they see that as an opportunity to aggregate premium,” Schalick said. “So the always competitive landscape in the private, not-for-profit market has dramatically increased in the last 18 to 24 months.”

Still, companies of all sizes and types should be concerned about management liability rates in the future. Legal system abuse is resulting in increases in both the amount of litigation and the size of verdicts plaintiffs are receiving.

Certain areas of the country are particularly vulnerable to this type of legal system abuse. As a result, insureds in these localities are likely to be vulnerable to rate increases.

“The environment is so positive for the plaintiff that forces premium increases so carriers are able to stay in that market long term,” Schalick said.

Why a Tenured Carrier Partner Can Help Insureds Navigate An Uncertain Market

It’s clear that insureds are facing an uncertain M&PL market over the next few years. Fortunately, carriers with a long history in the M&PL space will be there to offer stability.

Philadelphia Insurance Companies has been supporting this market for 35 years. PHLY is committed to offering long-term rate stability, even as economic and claims trends start to push premiums upwards. They have an appetite for all sorts of companies, large and small, for-profit and nonprofit alike.

“We’ve been at this game for a long time and are one of the most tenured underwriters in this space,” Schalick said. “We like to stay very consistent.”

PHLY has worked with both for-profit and non-profit on management liability policies. With dedicated M&PL teams throughout the company’s 13 regions, PHLY provides the support agents and brokers are looking for on behalf of their clients. The teams know their regions well and can respond to local trends. They’re also dedicated to making the renewal process as easy as possible for their partners and policyholders.

“We have real confidence in our results, so we focus a lot on making the renewal experience as painless as possible for all agents and insureds,” Schalick said.

The company is also investing in tools to help insureds avoid losses. Earlier this year, they launched a new online risk management platform, PHLYGateway, which offers resources for insureds on how to create an employee handbook and trainings on issues such as recognizing workplace sexual harassment and discrimination.

If insureds have questions, they can consult a Best Practices Help Line, provided via the platform. That way, they can get on the spot risk management guidance to help them prevent claims.

To learn more, visit: https://www.phly.com/mplDivision/managementLiability/default.aspx.

This article was produced by the R&I Brand Studio, a unit of the advertising department of Risk & Insurance, in collaboration with Philadelphia Insurance Companies. The editorial staff of Risk & Insurance had no role in its preparation.

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