New requirements regarding the disclosure of medical malpractice coverage effective immediately.
The AUPO FCC is committed to quality training. Part of that process is to make sure the fellow's employment conditions are suitable for the educational goals of the FCC. This includes ensuring that the fellow is appropriately covered by medical malpractice. Our concern is that a small number of programs offer a "Claims Made" policy without tail coverage ("Claims Made" policies covered the individual only during the term of the fellowship). University-based programs almost universally offer coverage that includes a tail. Other fellowships offer "Occurrence" based policies which, by definition, include tail coverage. Many fellowships offer "Claims Made," but include tail coverage at the program's expense. Our concern is a small number of programs that offer "Claims Made" coverage but do not include tail coverage, without full disclosure to the fellow.
Effective immediately (effective interviews for fellows starting 2018) the FCC will require full disclosure of medical malpractice coverage. Applicants need to be informed of the following:
- Type of medical malpractice (Occurrence vs Claims Made) (University-based programs should check to verify tail coverage)
- If Claims Made, the fellow needs to be informed on the status of the tail and the cost of the tail if it is fellow financial responsibility.
Please be aware that the FCC is currently discussing mandating full malpractice coverage, including tail coverage, as a future AUPO FCC requirement.
Michael W. Belin, MD
Chair, AUPO FCC