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Replacing Liability insurance - DisenchantedMT

Posted: May 29, 2012

The corp. I contract with is replacing Dictaphone and transcription with Powerscribe and editing. I have been presented with an extensive contract which will supersede the transcription agreement I have had for 10+ years. Aside from the disparity in pay and expectation to edit STATS for free, I have serious concerns about signing a contract that states I have full legal liability for the edited report and that I have to carry Workers Comp and 1-3 Million $ E&O and general liability insurance. Given that the docs are kicking and screaming and having numerous problems with Powerscribe, I am reluctant to sign a contract that essentially makes me liable for any mistakes in a report, from the demographics entered at registration, to the macros input by the docs, to errors made by Powerscribe that may get overlooked by me or my subcontractors. Has anyone else encountered this stipulation and what did you do?

Don't do it - requiring E&O is over the top, IMO

[ In Reply To ..]
Do you contract with an MTSO or do you contract directly with a health care corporation?

Some of what they're requiring makes sense in general terms for a corporation hiring contractors. As a contractor, you are your own business and a good business person will carry general liability insurance and workers comp, etc.

The problem with the E&O, though, in my humble opinion, is that if there is a mistake in the medical record that causes harm to a patient, the coporation requiring that you, the editor, carry that type of insurance, leaves you, the editor, much, much more open to being involved as a party in the law suit, regardless of the fact that the doctor signs off on the record before it is is finalized...or I should say the doctor SHOULD sign off on the record before it is finalized. That signature - and it is required by the doctor's malpractice insurance - is the doctor's verification that the record is correct, so if there is an issue, the person who edited or transcribed the record, should never come in to play. The fact that you are required to have E&O insurance, though, leaves you open to being called as a party to any lawsuit. Especially in such a situation as you are describing, where so much of what is being entered is beyond your control, that would scare the bejeebers out of me to sign something like that.

Then there's also the fact that E&O won't cover software issues or security issues and I think that's why some of the MTSOs and/or healthcare corporations that use contractors are requiring E&O.

It's a very murky area right now, but it's a huge expense, with the typical E&O policy anywhere from $1000 to $1500 a year. Supposedly there is a E&O policy available through ADHI for about $300 a year, but I haven't seen the inclusions and exclusions to know what it covers or what the limits on it are.

They want you to edit STATS for free? What? I just went back and read that part of your post. Uh uh. Nope. Stats need to be charged extra, thank you very much.

What I would highly recommend you do is come up with your own contract and present it to them. As a contractor, you shouldn't be signing a contract that your client presents to you - you present the contract to your client and if they agree to the terms, then they sign it and if not, you go on to the next client.

What they are asking you to sign is horrifically restrictive and is just asking for trouble.

I agree - DisenchantedMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks, I appreciate it. I am an MTSO/independent contractor, in business for 24 years with the same clients. My gut instinct won't let me sign the contract as it stands. So if it remains "take it or leave it", and they won't accept an addendum to my current contract, it will be time to cut my losses and move on. At least I'll get to sleep at night instead of worrying about a lawsuit caused by speech wreck. Oh, and my reports average 5-7 pages so they think they are getting a real bargain by cutting their transcription costs by 86%.

I would run as fast as my legs could carry me. - Their stipulations are delusional! nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

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