Protecting

Sterling Risk Advisors is the largest physician malpractice brokerage firm in Georgia.

• We have access to all of the medical malpractice insurance companies that write business in Georgia other than those that are direct writing carriers. Such resources allow us to broker our clients' coverage to many more malpractice insurance carriers that other brokers may have available to them.
  • We broker exposures to be insured to all the above available carriers and present the client with a detailed proposal showing comparisons of the most favorable coverages and premium quotations.
  • We negotiate "tail", retirement "tail" and "prior acts" provisions.
  • We present alternative premiums from other carriers at every renewal.
• Prior to brokering malpractice coverages for a practice we look in depth at all of the practice's malpractice exposures and advise whether to avoid or transfer the risk.
  • Avoid - Taking steps to remove an exposure or engage in an alternative activity.
  • Transfer - Shifting all or part of a risk (insurance being the most common device for transfer). Sometimes insurance isn't the answer - we look out for the clients best interests.
  • We analyze and identify the practice's individual potential malpractice exposures on a specialty specific basis including collection of data on personnel working in the practice, procedures performed, average patient volumes and type, practice locations outside of the office, independent contractors, locum tenens needs.
• Using all of the above data we evaluate and recommend specialty specific coverage limits.
• When coverage is placed we review all policies provided by the carriers to insure that the policy is written properly and that the coverage is what is needed and proposed to the practice.
• When claims arise we work with the covering carrier to make sure that our physicians/surgeons are well represented by the best specialty specific defense team available and are assisted by the best expert witnesses.

Counseling

• Our clients have access to over 40 years of knowledge and experience with physician's and surgeon's practices. Such resources help our clients protect their practices through risk management counseling so as to avoid malpractice claims. We provide access to risk management / medical-legal advice on an active 24-7 basis. Our clients have office, cell and home phone numbers as well as Blackberry e-mail access to our professionals. Important issues we often advise clients on include:
  • Non-compliant patient dismissal
  • Requests for medical records / release of patient information
  • State legal requirements regarding informed consent or age of permissible consent
  • State legal requirements with regarding reporting of potential child abuse
  • Techniques in delivering news of an unexpected outcome to a patient or patient’s family in the best way possible so as to protect the physician/ surgeon from a potential malpractice claim
  • Questions regarding statue of limitations / statute of repose
  • Handling potential licensing investigations / patient complaints
  • Handling potential employment and human resources issues and employment practices exposures when disciplining / terminating employees or setting employment related policies and procedures
  • Discussing your practice’s goals and plans for the future regarding insurance. This includes insurance issues surrounding employment of new professionals, adding new technology, and new locations

Sterling strives to become your practice's Trusted Advisor and a part of your overall decision making team. Sterling is known by medical communities around the Southeast as a trusted advisory resource for practices.

Advocating

• We sit side by side at the claims table and advocate your position to claims adjusters and defense attorneys.
• We organize, document, and assist in researching and presenting past claims, incidents, or past disciplinary proceedings to malpractice insurance carriers so as to insure the best premium pricing and coverage available for our clients.
• We prescreen and assist in negotiating contracts for our clients. We review the insurance and indemnification portions of contracts at the request of our clients (i.e. Management Services Agreements, Providers Service Agreements, Office Space Leases, and Equipment Purchase Agreements).
• We put together risk management educational seminars for practices.

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Governor's Ridge ♦ Building 28 ♦ 1640 Powers Ferry Road ♦ Marietta, GA 30067
Telephone: 678.424.6500    ♦    Fax: 678.424.6501