Agenda

Thursday, October 17, 2019
		7:30–8:15 a.m.	Breakfast
		8:15 a.m.	Welcome and Introductory Remarks
	8:15–9:15 a.m.	Insurance Basics—A Medical Professional Liability Perspective Brian K. Atchinson, President & CEO, MPL Association
	8:15–9:15 a.m.	Medical professional liability (MPL) insurance is essential for everyone involved in providing healthcare. In this session, participants will explore the types of companies offering this coverage and the ways each of them conducts similar business functions as well as insurance regulation. The MPL Association works for its members and their mission to support the practice of medicine and delivery of quality healthcare. Attendees will learn the rationale for this approach and its benefits. In addition, participants will examine how collaboration for best practices enables accessible, reasonably priced MPL products while also serving to sustain financial stability.
	9:15–10:15 a.m.	Medicine and Liability: A Physician Perspective Paul C. McNabb, II, MD, UTHSC Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Saint Thomas Health; Former Chair, SVMIC
	9:15–10:15 a.m.	Even the most experienced clinicians can be remarkably unprepared for the complex issues involved in professional liability. In this session, participants will hear about the processes involved in securing coverage, reporting “claims and incidents,” and risk managers’ assessment of a practice as well as the MPL insurers’ partnership with a physician. What’s involved—from the time commitment to the stress level—in preparing a physician or surgeon for defense of a claim, and how important is the defense team to resolving a case? Hear how medical professional liability insurance fits into the changing landscape of healthcare in 2019.
		10:15–10:30 a.m.	Refreshment Break
	10:30–11:30 a.m.	Rate-making and Reserves Susan J. Forray, FCAS, MAAA, Principal & Consulting Actuary, Milliman
	10:30–11:30 a.m.	To ensure its financial security, an MPL insurance company calculates how much to charge for its products (rate-making) and how much money it must set aside to pay for anticipated claims and the associated administrative expenses of claims (claims reserving). In this session, attendees will examine what goes into the calculations that actuaries make and how prior-year losses and associated company data are used to project the costs of sustaining the company in the future. Attendees will learn why the actuary must consider the local judicial environment and local claim trends, including settlement and verdict payouts.
		11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.	Networking Luncheon
	12:30–1:30 p.m.	Lessons Learned—How to Plan for the Next Hard Market E. Dow Walker, Jr, CPCU, ARM, ARe, Program Executive, Ob-Gyn Risk Alliance, ProAssurance Corporation
	12:30–1:30 p.m.	In this session, attendees will learn about the history of market cycles within the medical professional liability insurance industry and hear about common triggers for hard markets and market attitudes that set the stage for these triggers to occur. In addition, participants will discuss what company leadership can do both before and during a hard market to ensure the most positive outcome for their organization.
	1:30–2:30 p.m.	Underwriting Administration Blake McLendon, RPLU, Director, Underwriting, The Doctors Company
	1:30–2:30 p.m.	How does an underwriter use a potential insured’s application along with insurer guidelines to assess, insure, and manage risks? Risk factors analyzed include any prior claims made against the applicant, the specialty practiced, and the demographics of the geographic area of the practice. How do these factors impact the calculation of the insurer’s rates? Participants will hear about the two basic types of policies—claims made and occurrence—and learn how these coverages differ, and the benefits that each offer.
		2:30–2:45 p.m.	Refreshment Break
	2:45–3:45 p.m.	Risk Management and Patient Safety Marian Dwyer, RN, CPHRM, Senior Director, Patient Safety and Loss Prevention, MCIC Vermont LLC
	2:45–3:45 p.m.	Risk managers perform the essential task of educating insureds about what they need to do to minimize risk in delivering healthcare and, thereby, create a safer environment for patients. When patient safety is optimized, an adverse medical event is less likely, decreasing the possibility of a claim. Learners will hear how these programs are devised by reviewing past and present losses and loss trends, evaluating the medical practices that are linked to risk of loss, and making the refinements in diagnosis and treatment that lead to better care. In addition, they will learn how specialty-specific programs are designed, as necessary, to keep pace with advancements in medicine.
	3:45- 4:45 p.m.	Understanding Reinsurance Brianna Norduane, Senior Vice President, Guy Carpenter & Company LLC
	3:45- 4:45 p.m.	Reinsurance is a financial vehicle used for distributing risk. MPL insurers purchase reinsurance—and pay the premiums—to protect themselves against excess losses. The reinsurance contract specifies the levels of losses incurred by the primary insurer that trigger an indemnity payment by the reinsurer to help cover these losses. In this session, participants will review the basic principles underlying reinsurance contracts, and why these contracts are arranged on a proportional or an excess-of-loss basis among other important concepts.
		4:45–6:00 p.m.	Networking Reception
	Friday, October 18, 2019
		7:30–8:15 a.m.	Breakfast
	8:15 – 9:15 a.m..	Fundamentals of Finance and Accounting Kristin L. Kenny, Senior Vice President, CFO and Treasurer, Physicians Insurance A Mutual Company
	8:15 – 9:15 a.m..	Corporate income and expenses must be categorized, recorded, and retrieved for reporting to management or outside auditors. This is the task of the finance and accounting staff. In this session, participants will learn about these important activities and how finance and accounting manage the complex mix of investments of the company, adhering to the company’s established investment policies, and play a role in determining coverage rates and what is included in rate filings. In addition, participants will examine reinsurance contracts, billing, collecting policy premiums, and responding to questions about coverage.
	9:15 – 10:15 a.m..	Claims Administration Beth Atwell, JD, Vice President, Claims Operations, Medical Mutual Liability Insurance Society of Maryland
	9:15 – 10:15 a.m..	The claims professional serves as advocate for the insured and advises the insured throughout the claims process. Once a claim has been submitted to an insurer, a team of professionals begin their work. Attendees will learn how claims professionals respond to reports of adverse medical incidents, claims, and lawsuits. In addition, participants will hear how claims staff investigate the particular circumstances of each allegation made against their insured and then decide how best to proceed.
		10:15 – 10:30 a.m.	Refreshment Break
	10:30–11:30 a.m..	Hospitals, Health Systems, and other MPL Risk Bearing Entities Alison Milford, ACAS, MAAA, Senior Director, Willis Towers Watson
	10:30–11:30 a.m..	There are a number of approaches in the professional liability market for indemnifying medical liability exposures including funding risk transfer through the traditional reinsurance marketplace. In this session, attendees will hear about how hospitals, health systems, and other risk bearing entities can protect themselves from professional liability claims. There is a wide variety of players including individuals (physicians, nurses, extenders, etc.), groups, and corporate programs. Participants also will examine factors impacting the success of these programs, which include sound underwriting practices, proven risk management policies, and procedures, and effective claims managements.
	11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.	MPL Association Data Sharing Project P. Divya Parikh, Vice President of Research & Education, MPL Association
	11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.	MPL insurance companies can use the Data Sharing Project (DSP) data to provide the necessary statistical information needed to enhance risk management in medicine and to track MPL claims costs. Participants will learn how these data can be used to study claim patterns and pinpoint the areas of medical practice most vulnerable to MPL lawsuits. In addition, the MPL expense and indemnity information maintained in the DSP provides a valuable tool in furthering efforts to seek or maintain effective medical liability reform at all levels of government. Launched in 1985, the DSP is the largest ongoing independent collaborative database of medical professional liability claims and lawsuits. It contains hundreds of thousands of closed medical and dental claims, and suits, reporting indemnity and defense costs.
		12:30 p.m.	Adjourn