Errors and omissions (E&O) insurance is a type of professional liability insurance that helps protect organizations against claims of mistakes or negligence in their services. E&O insurance is highly customizable to protect you and your company from the unique risks you face.
In particular, healthcare professionals face unique regulatory exposures, including billing error proceedings brought by government entities, HIPAA proceedings, and other medical regulatory proceedings.
Government agencies have targeted the healthcare industry to recover fraudulently received federal funds. Recovery Auditor Contractors’ (RAC) and Zone Program Integrity Contractors’ (ZPIC) compliance enforcement actions are expanding with increased enforcement power and significant incentives for finding fraud. That’s where errors and omissions insurance can help.
What E&O Insurance Covers
An errors and omissions insurance policy will vary depending on the specific policy language. Broadly, E&O insurance covers the following:
- Professional negligence
- Work errors, mistakes, or oversights
- Missed deadlines
- Failure to meet a particular standard of care or undelivered service
Typically, errors and omissions insurance policies are claims-made policies. That means coverage must be in place when a claim is made for the insurer to cover it. However, insurers can add retroactive dates to E&O insurance policies, providing coverage for losses that occurred in the past.
Regarding some healthcare-specific expenses, E&O may reimburse defense costs, fines, shadow audits, and penalties in billing errors, HIPAA, HITECH, EMTALA, or STARK proceedings.
