Chairman's Message
Welcome to the Academic Group, a member-owned and managed professional liability insurer governed by medical
school physicians for the benefit of medical school physicians.
As medical professionals, you know that liability insurance remains one of the biggest issues confronting
us as clinical educators. No one has been hurt more than the faculty physicians and dentists, the teachers
that train future generations of clinicians to serve our communities.
Academic was licensed in 1990 in response to this crisis. Since that time, we have had what we like to
think of as a salutary effect on the business, providing access to state-of-art continuing education programs
in risk management, creating and staffing a 24-hour-a-day legal hotline and, when necessary, guaranteeing access
to excellent defense of claims. Thanks to the efforts of our members and our highly skilled staff of insurance
professionals, the results have been outstanding.
We believe we bring a unique understanding of the demands placed on medical professionals working in an academic
environment. That, in turn, translates into better designed products, a superior loss history, and, ultimately,
the ability to control costs for our members.
Academic began life in New York State, one of the most challenging environments in the country from both a regulatory
and an operational point of view. Based on our success there, we have created a new Risk Retention Group based in
Vermont to offer our products and services to medical school faculty throughout the country.
I would like to encourage you to explore our Website, talk to your colleagues, and then contact us if you are
interested in finding out more about how the Academic Group can help you meet your professional liability insurance needs.
Speaking on behalf of our members, and our Board of Governors made up entirely of teaching doctors, we are proud of
the success we have achieved during a difficult time and in a challenging environment.
We look forward to the opportunity to serve you.
Sincerely,
James E. Cottrell, MD
Chairman of the Board
Chairman's Notes
Every physician owned company should have service as its number one priority, and this is certainly true at Academic. We are always reviewing comments from our subscribers as part of our ongoing efforts to improve our operations, and always with a commitment to maintaining a strong and stable organization. I am especially proud of our claims service. Medical liability lawsuits present physicians and all caregivers with complex professional and emotional challenges. Although we cannot guarantee a successful defense in every case, we know it is our responsibility to make sure that our staff and resources stand with you and that an experienced litigator is there to defend your care and reputation. With his permission, I am pleased to share with you a note from one of our faculty subscribers complimenting his assigned defense counsel and the support he received from Academic.
Academic's mission of protecting and defending a teaching doctor's clinical care and judgment continues to attract the attention of our peers. Over the years, I have heard enthusiastic support for our insurance model from faculty at other schools. My colleagues serving on Academic's Board have as well. We have expanded our program and have enrolled a number of teaching physicians at the University of Louisville. The Academic insurance model has indeed kept our costs in line despite the fact that neither New York nor Kentucky is experiencing the reforms that have been passed in so many other states. Additional state specific pressures impact us, including the effects of New York's Medical Malpractice Insurance Pool.
At the strategic planning level, Academic's Executive Committee and Board has analyzed the Association's resources and prospects so as to continue to: (1) enhance security and services to all our present faculty member insurance policyholders and (2) expansion of our policyholder base to other qualified teaching physicians. To meet these ends, we have formed a new insurance company, to be owned by policyholders and organized as a risk retention group under federal law. The new company will be an adjunct to Academic and will enable our underwriters to continue to competitively quote premiums in line with our preferred risk profile as teaching physicians. The new insurer will also allow our underwriters to create new policy protections and coverage features for faculty and practice plans. We will continue to keep our subscribers apprised of these developments.
Planning has not replaced good operations. Our Claims Committee remains active and engaged. Board members are assisting in reviewing claims and providing medical expertise in managing them. We are grateful for the work of this Committee, especially the Chair, Dr. John McCabe, as well as Drs. William Dillon and Michael Zenilman.
I encourage Academic's members to submit their suggestions as to how our organization can better serve themselves and their colleagues, and refer us to other schools that may be searching for insurance alternatives. If you have ideas, please contact Marty Kern, Esq. (marty@academicins.com) or Jay Roberts (jayroberts@academicins.com) or send your suggestions through Academic's web site's contact button found at academicins.com. We look forward to hearing from you, and thanks for your support.
Solutions President's Notes
Specialty insurers help stabilize insurance markets and hold down the cost of insuring risks. Regional and specialty carriers emphasize long term, trusting relationships with policyholders. Many have existed for more than 100 years, and obviously weathered terrible insurance markets and investment conditions. Overall their numbers have increased since 1986. The overwhelming majority are financially sound, even as companies hundreds of times their size falter.
We smaller specialty companies need to remind ourselves of this periodically. Since the creation of the malpractice insurance committee within SUNY in 1986, we have never lost sight of our mission and our goal. We have long term relationships with our subscribers (and ALL of Academic's Board members are subscribers) and we are continuously seeking to build policyholder security. Even with the added challenges of being a New York licensed medical malpractice carrier, we continue to serve our subscribers well, while carefully building financial strength.
One of the key reasons we are able to do this is our ability to communicate with subscribers. We solicit comments from every subscriber we defend. We have policyholder representatives serving on our Board from every campus. Importantly, we are in constant dialogue with our insurance mangers to make sure they are up to date regarding the needs of each campus and the clinical practice plans. In turn, this gives them the knowledge and information needed to solve problems and protect our subscribers.
As a further commitment to keeping our operation responsive to the needs of our subscribers, we hold monthly meetings of several standing committees. As noted by our Chairman, the work of the Claims Committee has evolved into an excellent source of intelligence in managing our risks. As a member of that Committee, I appreciate the work of my colleagues.
Please feel free to speak with or e-mail the Governing Board representative at your respective campus about suggestions or ways you would like to become more involved with the program. Email addresses for Board members and Solutions staff are on Academic's web site.
