MIGA - Australia's professional indemnity insurance experts for medical practices

Professional indemnity insurance for your healthcare business

Protecting your business & staff

Healthcare services are often delivered via complex ownership and business structures which can lead to potential gaps in insurance protection.

Often these businesses are not wholly owned by the doctors working in them, they may employ a range of allied health care professionals and the doctors may be insured with different insurers.
 
Gaps in cover that arise because of the way services are provided cannot be easily covered by each doctor’s individual medical indemnity insurance. In some cases, doctors may not want matters they are not directly involved in dealt with under their personal policies.  MIGA offers a policy, called Healthcare Insurance, to cover healthcare businesses for medical indemnity claims that may be made against them.
 
The policy covers the liability of the company or practice entity, its subsidiaries and their employees including healthcare professionals such as nurses, technicians and the like (other than employed doctors*). Cover is also provided for vicarious liability for the acts of employees, including employed doctors and contractors, consultants and agents.

Get a quote for your insurance

It’s quick and easy to find out more about the protection MIGA can provide.

Benefits of insuring with MIGA

You determine the limit of cover

You can select a limit of cover based on the risk your business faces.  Select a policy limit of $1 million, $5 million, $10 million or $20 million depending on your circumstances.

Protection for your employed admin staff

Cover is provided where the actions of your employed staff are alleged to have contributed to a poor patient outcome.

Access to free medico-legal advice

As a policyholder you have access to MIGA’s free medico-legal advice service which you can use to seek advice on matters related to the operation of your business.

Support when you have a claim

Our in-house solicitors have significant experience in personal injury and medical indemnity claims and maintain frequent personal contact with clients involved in claims.  This ensures that you are involved in and kept informed of progress.

Risk Education support

Benefit from Practice Risk Assessments, incorporating invidualised recommendations report and targeted solutions, and free Risk Management Training Sessions for admin teams, on topics like Complaints Handling and Social Media.

Easy payment options

You can enjoy the convenience of annual or monthly direct debit payments at no additional cost!   Establishing a direct debit arrangement ensures peace of mind, knowing you have continuous cover in place.

Not sure why you might need this type of insurance?

For an explanation of the factors impacting your business’ need for insurance and illustrative case studies, download our e-book ‘Professional indemnity insurance for healthcare businesses – Why it should be on your radar’.

DOWNLOAD E-BOOK

All your doctors have their own medical indemnity insurance, so why does your medical business need it too?

Insurance arrangements can be complicated by the range of service providers in your business and their interactions with each other in providing services to patients.  The doctors working in healthcare businesses are sometimes insured with different insurers – consider these scenarios:
  • Scenario 1

    If all the doctors who work in your business are insured with MIGA
    There are some situations where an individual doctor’s policy will not provide the total solution in a matter that involves the practice entity or its employees.
     
    The situations where your practice might need its own insurance include:
    • If your business is not wholly owned or controlled by the doctors who are insured
    • If your business employs professional staff who work in areas outside of the doctors’ area of practice
    • If your business provides services to external parties, which may include services provided to doctors or other health professionals who are not employed by the practice
    • If you have employees working in the business who bill in their own right or you have contractors working in your business.
  • Scenario 2

    If only some of the doctors who work in your business are insured with MIGA
    Healthcare businesses that employ or contract with doctors where the doctors maintain their own individual insurance with different insurers may face issues in terms of:
    • Lack of clarity about cover for the practice entity and its employees
    • Different policy conditions applying to each of the doctors in the business
    • Resolving issues between insurance companies when they try to work out who was responsible for an incident – there may be gaps in cover that emerge as a result of this.
     
    MIGA’s Healthcare Insurance:
    • Ensures doctors can maintain their own policy with their insurer of choice, if they wish, but
    • Will minimise the risk of gaps in cover for the business and its employees.

    Some of the situations where your business may need Healthcare Insurance are:
    • If the staff in the business are employed by an administration company but provide support to all of the doctors in the business
    • If the business is joined in a claim in relation to allegations attributable to the business or its employees.
  • Scenario 3

    If none of the doctors in your business are insured with MIGA
    Your business is likely to need its own Healthcare Insurance.
     
    If all the doctors working in your business are insured:
    • With the one insurer – then your business might still need Healthcare Insurance for the reasons outlined in Scenario 1
    • With different insurers – then your business might still need Healthcare Insurance for the reasons outlined in Scenario 2
    • In addition, there are other reasons why your business might need its own insurance. MIGA’s insurance policy for individual doctors is one of the broadest available in Australia which means if all of the doctors in your business are insured with us there may be fewer reasons for needing Healthcare Insurance. If all your doctors are insured with other insurers, however, then your business might still need Healthcare Insurance because not all medical indemnity insurance policies for doctors cover:
      • The business where it may be responsible for a claim or for its vicarious liability for the acts of employees, including employed doctors
      • Employees for claims brought against them personally.

Need advice on professional indemnity insurance for your business?

If you would like to discuss your situation, one of our friendly team members can call you back at a time convenient to you.

Resources

Policy Wording

Details the basis on which insurance cover is provided to you.

Read more

Does your healthcare business need its own insurance?

An easy to complete checklist for your healthcare business.

Read more

*An optional extension is available to cover employed doctors directly under the Healthcare Insurance or alternatively doctors can maintain their own insurance and Healthcare Insurance will cover the company or practice over and above the individual doctors’ policies.
 

Insurance policies are issued by Medical Insurance Australia Pty Ltd (AFSL 255906).  MIGA has not taken into account your personal objectives or situation.  Before you make any decisions about our policies, please review the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (which can be found here) and consider your own needs.
Information on this site does not constitute legal or professional advice. If you have questions, or need advice please contact us for assistance.