On 5 June 2024, AHANA hosted a webinar, “Navigating Risk and Insurance for Allied Health Assistants". The webinar featured Kristen Vassallo from BMS and was facilitated by Kelli Rixon (AHANA’s Company Secretary). 

This webinar provided a comprehensive overview of the risks associated with allied health assistance and the necessary insurance coverages to mitigate these risks. The session underscored the importance of both individual and entity insurance and offered practical advice on managing claims and maintaining continuous coverage. The webinar covered the following areas:

1. Types of Insurance Coverage

• Professional Indemnity Insurance: protects against claims of negligence, breach of duty, malpractice, etc.
• Public Liability: covers you for actual or alleged negligence caused by you or your employees which results in bodily injury or property damage to a third party. 
• Products Liability: covers you for actual or alleged bodily injury or property damage to a third party arising through use of a product sold, supplied, or manufactured by you.
• Entity Insurance: covers the business name and is crucial even for sole traders. It handles claims directed at the business rather than individuals.

2. Common Areas of Risk

• Miscommunication: a leading cause of claims.
• Privacy and safety: importance of maintaining patient privacy and ensuring their safety to avoid complaints.
• Boundary violations: can occur unintentionally but still lead to significant claims.
• Handling challenging patients: strategies to manage difficult situations to mitigate risks.

3. Claims Process

• Claims made policy: the insurance policy that responds to a claim is the one in place when the claim is made, not when the incident occurred. Consistent coverage is crucial.
• Run off cover: insurance that continues to provide coverage even after retirement or ceasing practice.
• Retroactive cover: ensures coverage for incidents that occurred before the current policy period.

4. Scenarios and Examples

• Practical examples: provided to illustrate how insurance policies apply in real-life situations involving AHAs.
• Entity Insurance Example: a scenario where both the individual practitioner and the business face claims, highlighting the importance of having comprehensive coverage.

5. Importance of Personal Insurance

• Individual coverage: essential for protecting personal interests, especially when working across multiple locations or employers.
• Employer's insurance: may not fully cover individual practitioners; personal insurance ensures adequate protection.

6. Additional Coverage

• Cyber insurance: emphasised as increasingly important due to the rise in cyber-attacks, especially for those handling sensitive health information.

This is the first session we have delivered about insurance for AHAs. It is an important topic and we understand there may be further questions. You are encouraged to reach out to BMS for further assistance and specific insurance queries.

Below we are sharing the slides from Kristen’s presentation and answers to the questions registrants listed when they signed up to attend the webinar.

If you have any questions, then please reach out to us at admin@ahana.com.au.

Presentation Slides     Insurance Fact Sheet