Hospital Insurance
There are not many insurance markets for healthcare organizations in Canada and coverage provided is fairly specialized with emphasis placed on liability exposures. For example, hospital casualty polices issue by HIROC include the following sections:
A – bodily injury
B – property damage
C – health care professional liability
Cl – blood transfusion legal liability
D – contingent employer’s liability
E – employee benefits liability
F – errors and omissions liability / d&o
U – environmental impairment liability
H – non-owned automobile insurance
I – crime insurance
Polices issued by other sources include some of these sections but generally speaking, the D&O and Environmental coverages need to be placed separately. There are some differences in basic coverage, including some providers giving “occurrence” based coverage on the malpractice section instead of “claims made.”
Individual practitioners generally have their own protection / insurance
The C.M.P.A. is a mutual defense organization, which defends its members against legal claims and pays the damage award when the defense is unsuccessful. The C.M.P.A. retains highly skilled and experienced counsel who defend those cases which go to trial.
Outside of Quebec, where physicians insure privately, about 90% of physicians are members of C.M.P.A. and are protected by them. It is not an insurance policy and there is no definitive agreement. However, it is a financially sound organization.
C.M.P.A. are not concerned about possible contracts, in which a physician indemnifies a healthcare facility for whom they are working, provided the contract is a fair and balanced document providing for mutual indemnification.
C.M.P.A. protection will generally always apply first and since there is no cap on the limit of liability, the healthcare institution’s malpractice insurance should not come into play. The healthcare institution’s insurance will apply on a primary basis in those case where, for some reason, C.M.P.A. does not respond.
Where a doctor has private insurance, it will apply as primary and the healthcare institution’s policy as excess over the limit provided by the doctor’s insurance.
C.M.P.A provides coverage on an “occurrence” basis rather than “claims made.”
The following classifications of physicians and surgeons are listed as being eligible for membership:
Allergy, Anesthesia, Assistance at Surgery, Cardiology, Cardiology (no arteriography/catheterization), Cardiovascular Surgery, Chronic Pain Management, Clinical Associates (Medical), Clinical Associates (Surgery), Clinical Fellow (moonlighting), Clinical Fellow (w/out moonlighting), Clinical Immunology, Community Medicine/Public Health, Dermatology, Diagnostic Imaging, Emergency Medicine/Emergentology, Endocrinology, Emergency Medicine, Family Practice or General Practice inc., Gastroenterology, General Practice (with Anesthesia/Surgery/Emergency), General Practice (with Obstetrics), General Surgery, General practice – excluding Emergency, Genetics, Gynecologic Surgery without Obstetrics, Hematology, Infectious Diseases, Intensive Care, Internal Medicine, Interns, Residents (moonlighting), Medical Microbiology, Medical Oncology, Neonatology, Nephrology, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Nuclear Medicine, Obstetrics, Obstetrics (without labor and delivery), Occupational Medicine, Ophthalmology, Orthopedic Surgery, Otolaryngology, Pediatric Surgery, Pediatrics, Pathology – Anatomic, Pathology – General, Pathology – Hematological, Pathology – Neurological, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Plastic Surgery, Psychiatry, Respiratory Medicine, Rheumatology, Sports Medicine, Surgery (no operative treatment), Therapeutic radiology/radiation oncology, Thoracic Surgery, Urology, Vascular Surgery
Canadian Nurses Protective Society (C.N.P.S.)
See the link below for an explanation of the extent of coverage provided by the Society and the optional additional coverage they supply CNPS Plus
Other Medical Associations
There are other groups that have their own special insurance such as the various Midwives Associations throughout Canada.
Insurance Sources
(General – Not necessarily accessible by TCIM)
- ENCON
- HIROC
- Lloyds through Lloyd’s brokers
- Marsh Canada – A major supplier in Canada.
- Summit Reinsurance Services
- Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada
- Accreditation Canada
- Alberta Medical Association
- American Medical Association
- ARAMARK
- Canadian Association of Midwives
- Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse
- Canadian College of Health Service Executives
- Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement
- Canadian Medical Association
- Canadian Nurses Association
- Catholic Health Association of Canada
- College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba (CRNM)
- Doctors of BC
- First Nations and Inuit Health Programs
- HealthCare Can
- Health Canada
- Healthcare Quarterly
- Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction
- Life Science Association of Manitoba
- Manitoba Health
- Medrisk
- Merck Medical Library
- Ontario Medical Association
- Quality and Safety in Health Care
- Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO)
- Saskatchewan Health
- Saskatchewan Registered Nurses’ Association
- Sykes Assistance Services Corporation
- The Doctor’s Company
- The Lancet
- WinnipegRegional Health Authority
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