The Medtech industry covers a wide-ranging field of things. From telehealth, diagnosis software to medical devices. All areas of Medtech have a level of risk that can be covered by insurance, especially to cover the companies’ liabilities. This article will walk you through the key liability risks that all Medtechs have and explain the types of liability insurance you should consider taking out if you haven’t already.
Liability insurance protects companies from their liabilities that result from negligence, errors, or lack of duty of care. The insurance policy pays out for the legal defence and settlement costs of the lawsuit, thereby protecting the company’s balance sheet from large legal costs so that the company can continue to operate.
Here are the key liability insurance policies you need to consider if you run a Medtech company, and the situations in which the policies will apply to you.
Cyber Liability
All Medtech companies no matter what specialisation, will be collecting or processing a lot of personal data. This could be for diagnosis, research or sales purposes. Most likely Medtechs will have access to very sensitive data such as health records. This not only is attractive to cyber criminals, but also places greater emphasis on own internal controls to prevent any data breaches.
A Cyber Liability policy is there to take care of the liabilities that arise as a result of data breaches anywhere in the world. This can come in the form of fines and penalties, legal defence costs or communication costs to regulators. The beauty of a cyber policy is that it also provides coverage if the company is on the receiving end of a targeted attack. The insurance will provide incident response capabilities to get you back on your feet as soon as possible.
Professional Indemnity (PI)
This is important for Medtechs who face the risk of lawsuits from their clients who suffer an economic loss. This could come from errors or omissions in the services provided, such as in the diagnostics, analytics or insights that the company sells.
An example being a Medtech that helps clinics automate their workflow through patient risk analysis. A technical error occurs and the clinics are unable to process risk analyses on their clients and therefore sue the Medtech for loss of revenue.
Medical Malpractice
This is similar to PI insurance, however Medical Malpractice covers claims with a bodily injury element to it. Companies that provide medical services including diagnosis, analytics or the dispensary of medications could all face the risk of bodily injury claims in the event of errors or omissions in their services.
An example being if the Medtech accidentally provides an incorrect treatment plan or diagnosis to the patient and that results in a bodily injury. The patient sues the Medtech for the damages incurred such as the medical costs.
Product Liability
MedTech companies who develop their own devices, distribute or sell products face the risk of product malfunctions or design flaws that can result bodily injury or property damage claims. You may not be the company who actually designs or manufactures the products, however if you are involved in selling or distributing the products, clients may sue you for selling a faulty or poorly designed product that resulted in a property damage or bodily injury claim. An example being the battery in a monitoring device explodes and causes burns to the client’s arm.
Public Liability
This policy covers bodily injury and property damage claims from third parties such as landlords or third party visitors onsite at your work premises. This is applicable to MedTechs who work out of rented spaces such as labs, or warehouses that have a higher risk of slip and fall cases, or have a higher footfall traffic of third parties at their location.
These are the key liability insurance policies that all Medtech companies should be considering for their applicability. Some insurers offer combined policies that bundle the covers together so that you don’t need to take out five individual policies.
Get in touch with us if you have any questions on this or want to discuss the specifics of your company. Anapi’s team of expert brokers is ready to answer any questions you may have.
