Risks That Medical Staffing Agencies Face: Insurance Protection And Vetting Clients

Recent reports show that medical staffing agencies will soon experience a major boom in business through this year and beyond. The reason is due to medical facilities facing a shortage of registered nurses and other healthcare professionals. In turn, they now have to use staffing agencies to fill these medical roles, or maybe out of a money-saving effort.

If you run a medical staffing agency, you’re perhaps experiencing a major upturn in business now. And that’s great! But risks that medical staffing agencies face are more tremendous than ever. Because medical care is becoming overcrowded due to aging Baby Boomers, more patients means more potential for accidents.

All of these risks can get covered if you have the proper insurance. The important thing is to look at the most probable risks within the medical facilities you work with regularly.

While you can’t always guess what kind of accidents might occur with your clients, it’s still smart to think of the potentials. You can base this on past track record to help you better decide what kind of insurance you’ll need.

Understanding the Medical Facility’s Business Operations

When you start working with a new medical facility, you have to know everything about them to scope out potential hazards. Look into their general business operations and see what they do for safety. Do they have an overly structured way of doing things? Are they regularly experiencing chaotic situations behind the scenes?

A less organized medical clinic could spell trouble in potential accidents. Noisy and overcrowded work conditions could also lead to major mistakes that harm patients.

Having liability insurance for these situations is essential. Don’t forget that medical professional liability insurance is a separate policy covering more thorough accident scenarios.

Studying Client Job Descriptions

The medical staff you hire will all have different needs in their job descriptions. By studying what a client’s exact role is in their job, you can find what brings the most risk.

In this case, look at what kind of personal protective equipment your client uses, what the safety requirements are, and potential on-site hazards.

Malpractice insurance and workers’ compensation cover a lot of the above. Workers comp has different coverage based on what state you’re in, so find out early what your benefits are.

Studying Safety Manuals and OSHA Reports

You have a right to ask the medical facilities you work with to show their safety manuals so you know what their environment is. Better proof comes in looking at OSHA reports for each facility. If the clinic was ever cited by OSHA in the past for violating safety procedures, you may want to avoid working with them.

Don’t just assume a medical facility will automatically adhere to all expected safety measures. Most do, though it takes only one to end up causing a major accident that falls on your shoulders.

More Vetting of the Medical Facility

Thorough vetting is important for anything nowadays, and you still have some risk assessment to do with your facility clients. One of those is looking at accreditation of the clinic and what their ratings are from past agencies or patients. Ratings from others can easily be found online, sometimes through Yelp or similar sites.

The clinic may have past litigation with other agencies, and this can become a red flag. Their contract may even have you assuming unnecessary liability, which is the last you want when staffing medical personnel.

Still not sure to start with making sure that your medical staffing agency is properly insured? Get a quote from InsureYourCompany.com. Our business insurance specialists can help you determine the right types of insurance for your specific business needs and get you started on the path to protecting your assets.