Sell yourself to carriers for best deals
Getting the best premiums in 2010 will require that you showcase your data and market them to potential carriers, says Melinda S. Malecki, JD, a risk manager with the Chicago firm of Lebow Malecki. She serves as risk manager at one Chicago hospital and purchases insurance for two hospitals.
Some risk managers may think they don't have the potential to bring many carriers to the table for discussion, but Malecki says that is not true. The carriers are willing to hear you out if you have good information to present, so risk managers must prepare quality data and risk management information that will win them over.
"You need to show them that you have achieved those quality measures and you have those risk management programs in place," she says. "You want to tell them that you are a good risk for them. You can get them to successfully compete for your business if you convince them that there will be no surprises and you have an early warning system."
Never sell yourself short, Malecki cautions. If you have good risk management programs in place, don't assume that they are merely what everyone has. Malecki also says it is not enough to merely state what policies and procedures you have, but to present them in a convincing, appealing way.
"I call it 'marketing to the carriers,'" she says. "You have to really present that information so that you get the most impact. It's not enough to simply put a list on a piece of paper and hand it to the carrier."
Malecki advises risk managers to work with the marketing department or others in the hospital who may be more experienced with making such presentations. Use the best technology available.
"It all comes down to quantifying your results and marketing them to the carrier," she says. "I don't think most risk managers do this."
Aggressive marketing can be the difference between getting an acceptable premium or an excellent premium that truly reflects your actual risk, says Eric Poe, vice president of marketing and business development for NJ PURE, a medical malpractice insurance provider based in Princeton, NJ.
"This information must get to the individual [under]writer, the actual person who is deciding what rate to give you," he says. "Everything you have done for risk management should be seen by this underwriter. If you've spent more than five minutes coming up with a plan or policy on how to handle a particular situation, the underwriter ought to see that."
Poe advises including top management in the presentation. Don't be shy about blowing your own horn, he says.
"It's not just having a risk management plan that's important. It's being able to articulate very clearly how comprehensive that risk management plan is," Poe says. "You can have the greatest risk management plan in the world, but if nobody knows about it or understands how comprehensive it is, then nobody is going to give you a discount."
Sources
For more on how to obtain the best premiums, contact:
Melinda S. Malecki, JD, Risk Manager, Lebow, Malecki & Tasch, LLC, Chicago. Telephone: (312) 698-5900. E-mail: [email protected].
Eric Poe, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, NJ PURE, Princeton, NJ. Telephone: (877) 265-7873.
Getting the best premiums in 2010 will require that you showcase your data and market them to potential carriers, says Melinda S. Malecki, JD, a risk manager with the Chicago firm of Lebow Malecki. She serves as risk manager at one Chicago hospital and purchases insurance for two hospitals.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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