Medical, dental and healthcare office insurance
Practices tend to be well insured for malpractice and under-insured for everything else: the dental chairs and imaging equipment, the ransomware attack on the practice management system, the receptionist's discrimination claim, the water pipe that shuts the office for a month. This is the office side of a healthcare practice's insurance, built to fit around the malpractice policy rather than duplicate it.
A medical or dental practice needs two sets of coverage: professional liability (malpractice) for the clinical work, which is placed with specialist carriers, and the office package for everything else: general liability for the waiting room, property for equipment and improvements, business income, cyber for patient records under HIPAA, employment practices liability, and workers' compensation. I place the office package and coordinate it with the malpractice policy.
The office package
- General liability: waiting room falls, parking lot, premises; malpractice stays with the malpractice carrier.
- Property: tenant improvements, furniture, equipment, supplies, with equipment breakdown and business income.
- Cyber and privacy: breach response, HIPAA regulatory defence, ransomware.
- Employment practices liability.
- Workers' compensation and DBL/PFL: needlesticks, lifting injuries, exposure incidents.
- Crime: billing fraud and embezzlement by staff are among the most common practice losses.
- Umbrella above the office liability.
Practice types I insure
| Practice | Notes |
|---|---|
| Primary care and specialist offices | Office package around hospital or carrier malpractice; cyber and EPLI |
| Dental and orthodontic | High equipment values, gases, radiation; dental package product |
| Physical therapy, chiropractic, occupational therapy | Professional liability can be placed directly; equipment and premises |
| Mental health and counselling | Professional liability, cyber for telehealth records, small office package |
| Med spas and aesthetics | Professional liability with medical director requirements; see salons page for the boundary |
| Home health agencies | Professional and general liability, hired and non-owned auto, workers' comp for aides |
How long could the practice close?
A practice's revenue stops the day the doors close and its fixed costs don't. Water damage, fire, or a cyber attack that locks the scheduling system can close an office for weeks. Business income coverage, including for cyber events, is sized to payroll and rent for the period it would realistically take to reopen.
What I need to quote
- Practice type, providers and staff, payroll.
- Malpractice carrier and limits, so the office package fits around it.
- Equipment schedule and improvements value.
- Systems: EHR or practice management vendor, backups, MFA, prior incidents.
Common questions
Short answers to what people ask before they call.
Do you place malpractice insurance?
Professional liability for physicians and dentists is a specialist market, and most practices already have it through a medical malpractice carrier or their hospital affiliation. I place the office package around it and, for allied and wellness professions such as physical therapy, massage, counselling and aesthetics, I can place professional liability directly.
Why does a practice need cyber insurance?
Patient records are the most valuable data a small business holds and the most regulated. A breach means HIPAA notification obligations, forensics, possible penalties and patient claims. Cyber policies written for healthcare cover the response, the regulatory defence, and business interruption while systems are down. Practice management ransomware is now a common claim.
Is medical equipment covered under a standard property policy?
Yes for fire and theft, but equipment breakdown, which covers the electrical or mechanical failure of imaging, sterilisation and dental equipment, is separate and often the more likely loss. I add it with limits that reflect the equipment schedule.
What's different about dental offices?
High equipment values per square foot, nitrous and compressed gas, radiation equipment, and a heavy reliance on business income if the office closes. Dental packages are a standard product with the right sub-limits built in.
Do I need employment practices liability?
Practices have staff turnover, front-desk and clinical hierarchies, and New York's Human Rights Law applies at any size. EPLI is a modest addition for a practice with five or more employees and covers the defence of the claim that comes with the resignation letter.
Let's talk it through
A phone call or a message is all it takes. The first conversation is just a conversation.
Where I work
I'm based in Clifton Park and work across four Capital Region counties, in person or by phone.