Malpractice as civilian volunteer

[StarboardMD]

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I suppose I should have known the answer to this a long time ago, but I just always went with the "can't be sued" assumption. As an active duty GMO, I'm not covered by any kind of real malpractice insurance, am I? The Army isn't secretly paying for some kind of extra just-in-case malpractice for me?

The reason I ask is that I would like to get involved with some volunteer (civilian) SAR orgs and maybe volunteer as med support for some local (civilian) marathons and other races, but I can't (or more accurately, I shouldn't) do this without some kind of malpractice coverage, and it doesn't seem financially practical to get any kind of malpractice coverage merely for volunteer work. Am I just stuck not being able to volunteer (on the civilian side) unless I want to shell out the dough for insurance?

 

[colbgw02]

To your first point, there's no policy, but you're definitely covered. Your insurance, albeit indirectly, is the U.S. Treasury.

Check with the volunteer groups. If large enough, then they may provide coverage for you. Also, if your participation rises to the level of practicing medicine (and apparently it does), just remember to make sure you're properly licensed and that it's approved by your command. If you're exposing yourself to potential malpractice, then I'm sure the Army would consider it to be a form of off-duty employment.

 

[pgg]

You are covered by the Federal Tort Claims Act only when at a federal facility, or while caring for DOD beneficiaries at a civilian facility under an external resource sharing agreement arranged by your command. You may be licensed in any state.

If you work outside of those circumstances, you must
- (usually) have an off-duty employment request approved by your command
- be licensed in that state
- be credentialed by whatever organization or facility you work for (this can be easy-fast or complex-slow)
- have your own DEA registration to the tune of $731 per 3 years if prescribing controlled substances
- have liability insurance

For limited work, such as vacation / locums coverage, the individual or group you're filling in for probably has a policy that allows coverage for vacation or sick time.

For anything else, you'll need your own policy.

I'm not a lawyer, but here's my understanding: If it's an organized event, planned in advance, for which you are scheduled to formally provide some kind of medical coverage, you should be licensed in that state and have liability insurance, regardless of whether or not you're being paid.

 

[DrMetal]

I'm not a lawyer, but here's my understanding: If it's an organized event, planned in advance, for which you are scheduled to formally provide some kind of medical coverage, you should be licensed in that state and have liability insurance, regardless of whether or not you're being paid.

That sounds right, makes sense too. So say you want to moonlight in an urgent care or an ED for 10 hrs/wk. Can you buy your own liability coverage for solely that small amount of time (one day/week, or 52 days/year.), if so what would that cost? ..or do you have continuous coverage, paying the full $70k/year premium?!

 

[pgg]

That sounds right, makes sense too. So say you want to moonlight in an urgent care or an ED for 10 hrs/wk. Can you buy your own liability coverage for solely that small amount of time (one day/week, or 52 days/year.), if so what would that cost? ..or do you have continuous coverage, paying the full $70k/year premium?!

Probably depends on the carrier.

Mine gives me a 50% discount off the cost of a full time premium for my less-than-half-time moonlighting.

 

[DrMetal]

Probably depends on the carrier.

Mine gives me a 50% discount off the cost of a full time premium for my less-than-half-time moonlighting.

Hmm, must be worth it, right? Im sure you make enough in an anes moonlighting gig to make it worth your while. I wonder if the same would be true working an ED or Urgent care clinic

 

[pgg]

Hmm, must be worth it, right? Im sure you make enough in an anes moonlighting gig to make it worth your while. I wonder if the same would be true working an ED or Urgent care clinic

Malpractice premiums for anesthesia in CA are pretty low. For a claims-made $1,3M policy, think in the neighborhood of $7,000/y, not $70,000/y. There's a tail to think about eventually (230-240% of final premium), but even so it doesn't take more than a few days of work to cover a year's worth of 50%-discounted premiums.

 

[StarboardMD]

Well, thanks for all the info. Sounds like things are as I feared. Guess there's no hope for volunteer stuff until I'm out of the Army. The stuff I'm interested in is super small scale, local stuff that wouldn't have any kind of organized coverage. Just another reason to look forward to getting out... 🙁