The Costs of Medical Staffing Agency Insurance
Medical staffing agencies have a lot of responsibility. They fill vacancies at hospitals, nursing homes, and doctor’s offices in a timely manner. With thorough screening, they aim to place honest, reliable workers in the right workplaces.
In turn, they keep medical organizations running smoothly.
With such responsibility comes a certain degree of liability. If a staffing company places a healthcare practitioner or physician’s assistant and something goes wrong, they have to deal with the consequences. That’s why all medical professional staffing agencies should purchase comprehensive insurance coverage.
So, what types of insurance policies do medical professional staffing agencies need and how much do they cost? Let’s take a look.
The Importance of Medical Staffing Agency Insurance
In the medical field, the stakes are high. Vulnerable patients’ lives are on the line. Thus, the consequences of a substandard staffing placement can lead to serious liability for a healthcare staffing agency. Furthermore, there are complicated co-employment laws to consider.
As a medical staffing agency, you face professional liability if you place an employee that:
- Gets injured on the job
- Causes damage to the medical facility’s property
- Behaves negligently in their new workplace
While some of these situations are out of your control, you could still be held responsible for them as a staffing service provider. That’s why business insurance is so important. It protects your employment agency from the serious financial setbacks of an unexpected lawsuit by the job seeker or employer.
What Types of Insurance Do Medical Staffing Agencies Need?
To protect yourself and your healthcare staffing agency, you need a well-rounded insurance plan that takes into account employing job seekers in clinical settings, as well as private home health care situations. You should purchase the following policies for your business:
- Professional liability insurance
- General liability insurance
- Workers’ compensation insurance
- Fidelity bonds
Let’s review each of these insurance policies and see what they cost to implement.
Professional Liability Insurance
Medical professionals are held to high standards. In their professional oath, they promise to protect and care for patients. If they fall short of this oath, due to negligence or malpractice, they may face serious legal consequences.
If one of your workers fails to uphold medical standards, this reflects poorly on your agency. They are working on behalf of your agency, so his or her negligence could be seen as your negligence.
Fortunately, professional liability insurance protects your agency from the legal costs of professional negligence and malpractice. You can’t afford to go without medical malpractice insurance as a business owner.
General Liability Insurance
Since your workers operate out of doctor’s offices, hospitals, and patients’ homes, there are ample opportunities for injuries and property damage to take place. Thus, you need to protect yourself from the potential legal ramifications that may involve an employee working in a hospital setting, or an individual home health provider.
General liability insurance protects your agency from third party claims of:
- Property damage
- Personal injury
- Bodily injury
Any of these claims can lead to exorbitant legal costs and liability. Thus, it pays to invest in general liability insurance. It will cover the associated costs of such claims up to your predetermined policy limit.
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
Workers’ comp insurance is legally required of all employers. It ensures that workers receive financial support if they get injured on the job.
In the medical field, workplace injuries are common. In fact, hospitals have some of the greatest rates of workplace injuries and illnesses. This should come as no surprise, since healthcare professionals work with dangerous chemicals, complicated equipment, and sick patients. Thus, workers’ compensation insurance is a necessity.
How Does Workers Compensation for Staffing Agencies Work?
With workers’ comp insurance:
- Workers give up their right to sue your staffing firm if they get hurt or sick at their new job.
- Your agency agrees to provide state-mandated employee benefits for an injury or illness, such as insurance coverage for their medical expenses and partial payments of their wage.
In other words, workers’ compensation protects your company from a costly lawsuit, while simultaneously supporting workers if they face an expensive medical accident.
Fidelity Bonds
Lastly, all medical staffing agencies can benefit from fidelity bonds. Fidelity bonds are a form of surety bond, though they operate like a traditional insurance policy.
Fidelity bonds protect your medical staffing agency from workers’:
- Dishonesty
- Theft
- Forgery
- Embezzlement
- Other unscrupulous behavior
Even though you screen your workers thoroughly, you can’t always predict their behavior or future choices in a hospital or home health care setting. If one of the workers you place steals from a patient, forges medical documents, or lies about medical information, your staffing company can be held responsible. However, fidelity bonds will protect you from the ensuing legal expenses.
How Much Staffing Agency Insurance and Fidelity Bond Costs
So what are the staffing insurance and fidelity bond costs that you can expect to pay? The price of these policies depends on:
- Your business type
- The amount of coverage you need
- The number of employees you have
- Your yearly revenues
- The insurance provider you choose
Keep in mind, the cost of forgoing liability insurance outweighs the price of your policies. Without insurance, your medical staffing agency is vulnerable to a costly lawsuit that could destroy its financial standing.
NOW Insurance: Get Affordable Medical Staffing Agency Insurance Today
Given the unique risks of the medical industry, your staffing agency can’t go one more day without adequate protection.
At NOW Insurance, you can speak with experts about various policies and learn exactly what staffing agency insurance costs. Or fill out our online app for an immediate quote. From there, you can determine the amount of coverage that is right for your agency. From professional liability insurance to general liability insurance, NOW Insurance has got you covered.