Business Monday: Doctors discuss Insurance issues

SOME of the challenges facing doctors and the insurance industry, came under the microscope during an interactive seminar hosted by Sagicor General Insurance and staged at Marriott Courtyard.

In a changing environment, which has seen major global growth in the specialty area of Insurance Medicine, several of the island's young doctors were recently provided with timely advice, and had their questions answered during the evening session.

Featured presenter for the event, Dr. Michael Hoyos, underscored the fact that Doctors had an important role to play in helping all parties to achieve accurate and fair assessments of claims in events where patients suffered injuries.

Dr. Hoyos, a vastly experienced Physician who been practising for 40 years, cautioned his younger colleagues that insurance reports had to be clinically accurate, thorough and supported by scientific tests.

“Any opinions offered must be based on the whole picture, and take into account the clinical status of the patient, as well as the impact of the injury on the person,” he said.

Dr. Hoyos also offered tips on working with the legal profession, and urged his audience not to be afraid to seek the advice of more experienced colleagues. He also advised them that it was very important to learn from any pitfalls they might encounter.

Also making a presentation on the night was Dr. Lana Husbands, who spoke on not so obvious infections which affected babies and children.

She cautioned that babies and toddlers were unable to speak for themselves, and hence Doctors needed to be thorough in their assessments.

Dr. Husbands offered tips on when parents and doctors should be concerned, and cautioned that the presence of fever could be sign of a simple illness or something more severe.

Representative of Sagicor General Insurance, Roger Spencer, said it was important that such educational sessions were staged for health-care professionals, as liability issues and the adjudication of claims were critical matters facing the Insurance industry on a daily basis.

Against this background, he said the company felt it was important to make Doctors, and others who supply health care, aware of the requirements that were necessary to assist in the fair and timely resolution of claims.

Sagicor General has emerged as a leader in the efficient and fair settlement of claims in the local industry, and has gone even further than other players in the industry by establishing a six-member medical panel.

The high level of expertise provided by the panel is utilised by the company to assist in the settling of claims.

Sagicor’s Medical panel is chaired by Professor Sir Trevor Hassell, and also includes a neuro-surgeon, an orthopaedic surgeon, a specialist in family medicine, a Psychiatrist and an Attorney-at-Law.