All EPCs Need Professional Liability Insurance
If your career is in healthcare, and if you are a Board Certified exercise physiologist (EPC), then, you are a healthcare professional who needs professional liability insurance. But either you don’t believe it or you have not been told that healthcare professionals need their own liability insurance policy. There is also the possibility that you are concerned with the cost for the insurance or where to purchase it. The purpose of this article is to provide you with the necessary information you need to protect yourself and assets.
Every EPC is responsible for the safety and well-being of the client. If the client gets hurt, the EPC can expect to be named in the lawsuit. This means that the EPC will need a defense lawyer. Under no circumstances should the EPC rely on the theory of vicarious liability, meaning the employer is liable for an employee’s actions that are within the scope of employment. Lawsuits have a way of driving a wedge between the employer and employee.
Also, aside from the very important fact that the insurance is designed to cover the interest of the employer, an extension of the policy to cover the employee may be limited. As an example, it is not likely to cover the EPC who leaves the employer for “whatever” reason, yet the EPC is named in a lawsuit for an incident that occurred before leaving. Nothing about the original insurance coverage will protect the EPC who gives advice to others, and it doesn’t matter whether the advice is good or bad, the EPC can be sued regardless.
There are no EPCs who are licensed professionals. They are “board certified” healthcare professionals. Since recognizable risks associate with their professional services, it is only logical that they protect their own personal interests. The only way to do that is to purchase professional liability insurance policy. Compared to most things in life, it is not expensive. EPCs can obtain $1 million liability coverage per claim for as little as $120 to $240 a year.
Being covered by a liability policy makes sense. It has nothing to do with whether the EPC has been negligent. If the client feels that he or she has been harmed from something the EPC did or failed to do, then, the only way to help ensure protection is to have professional liability coverage in the first place. This applies to the employed and the self-employed EPCs and, since they are subject to being accused of negligence in the performance of their duties, they need a policy that covers against allegations and additional defense costs of professional malpractice.
Professional liability insurance covers the EPC while engaged in responsibilities within the ASEP Standards of Practice. If the EPC engaged in behavior that is not consistent with the ASEP scope of practice, the behavior or acts are not covered by the policy. Hence, knowingly or intentionally doing something to a client that results in harm will not be covered by professional liability insurance policies.