When asked at parties what you do for a living, you often get a quizzical look. Patiently, you explain that you’re an audiologist, a healthcare professional whose job it is to help diagnose and treat hearing loss. Suddenly you’re getting asked by a partygoer why their ears pop and are asked about the use of Q-tips to clean waxy ears.
You let them know that without a proper exam, you really can’t offer your advice. This is smart. It’s also smart to cover your audiology practice with business insurance for audiologists. You take your patients hearing seriously, you should take your practice’s security seriously too.
Here are four reasons why you need a small business insurance package:
Healthcare offices house expensive pieces of equipment as well as important patient health records. If your office was engulfed in a fire or a burglar stole or damaged your equipment — without insurance, you would be responsible for the cost of the property damage. If an employee was hurt by a downed machine or upset patient, you would be responsible for their medical fees too. Property insurance and workers’ compensation would cover you in the above instances, taking care of rebuilding your office and paying for your employee’s medical fees.
Audiology testing equipment costs thousands of dollars. If your audiometer were to short out and you didn’t have the funds to repair or replace the machine, that’s a significant profit hit. Property insurance covers the repairs and replacement of office equipment, helping you to continue to perform your job without worrying about the repo man coming to make a collection.
The hearing aids your patient uses might have volume issues or cause the patient ear pain. This leaves the patient angry, and they will demand that you fix the problem. General liability insurance will help to compensate the patient for the faulty product and even offer a replacement. But keep in mind, you should carry a malpractice insurance policy too, just in case this isn’t enough for the patient.
Healthcare organizations are hit by cyberattacks regularly. In fact, four out of five healthcare organizations have suffered cyberattacks since 2013. Patient data is a hot commodity on the dark web, with social security numbers, dates of birth and health insurance account numbers selling like hot cakes. Unlike a credit card number, people cannot change their birthdates or SSNs. This makes the information invaluable to a cybercriminal and forever puts the patient at risk of identity theft.
HIPAA guidelines state that healthcare organizations are required by law to carry cyber insurance. Cyber insurance covers the costs of a data breach, including the costs of litigation and restitution. Again, don’t forget about malpractice insurance, you’ll need both to protect yourself from patient lawsuits.
You became an audiologist to help people, but don’t forget about helping yourself. Get a small business insurance package today with CoverHound.
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