Then there's the potential fallout from a finalized Health Reform Act, which depending on the final draft, could have ramifications for the insurance industry.

"It's difficult to know the affects, because we don't know how it will play out," says Schneider. "I suppose that if in fact as the result of the health reform acts clients are forced to be more conservative, especially in the acquisition of new capital equipment, that could affect business."


Physician professional liability coverage is a separate entity, but many insurance providers who insure OEMs and ISOs also provide medical malpractice insurance for practitioners and facilities.

Glass notes that it is still a soft market but medical malpractice lines are crossing, so deals will not be as great in a year and he predicts general/products liability may be next.

"Reimbursements remain slow and receivables high, procedures are flat with health care in limbo for 12 months," he says. "Risk has been flat in most cases and some MRI groups are struggling."

Risk Analysis
An important component of any good insurance provider is providing a service that lets the customer feel safe and secure in the knowledge that they have the proper amount of coverage.

"The first thing you do is start out with a risk analysis. We developed our own work product, which is done right away and you can determine from the risk analysis, what assets the insurer has to protect and what they have at risk," Schneider says. "If it's a large inventory of imaging devices in a warehouse, that's an asset that's at risk. If they own a fleet of automobiles, they have both the physical damage of the automobile but also the liability that we need to insure them against."

Glass agrees that implementing a risk management program is key when working with any client in the medical industry.

"The goal is to protect the health care provider's assets, which increases profits," he says. "Ironically, good risk management techniques make the purchase of insurance the last resort to protecting one's assets. A risk manager is trained to transfer as much risk as possible to others, manage past claims, avoid future claims through loss control and safety techniques, retain a portion of financial responsibility as a deductible and lastly, avoid a new product line or service if the exposure is too great. The risk manager then insures what is left."

For any company that supplies, services or refurbishes medical equipment, it's important to feel secure about protecting your business and understand all the risks involved. A good insurance provider will make sure you do.

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