COPIC Insurance Company Of Denver Receives Award For Health Care Communication From Bayer Institute
DENVER, Nov. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- COPIC Insurance Company, Colorado's largest medical malpractice insurer, yesterday received the 2004 Program Partner Award from the Bayer Institute for Health Care Communication, a nationally accredited organization that promotes better clinician-patient communication.
Citing COPIC's "outstanding commitment to improving clinician-patient communication during the past 16 years," J. Gregory Carroll, Ph.D., executive director and chief executive officer of the Institute, presented a crystal statuette to Jerome M. Buckley, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of COPIC, in a ceremony before the company's board of directors at its Denver headquarters.
"We are honored by this award," said Dr. Buckley, "and accept it as a tribute to the commitment that COPIC-insured physicians make every day to continually improve quality of care. Good doctor-patient communication has been shown to be an important element in preventing the misunderstandings that lead to unnecessary legal proceedings and eventually to increased health care costs."
In his remarks, Dr. Carroll pointed to several "pathbreaking programs" developed and implemented by COPIC.
* Over the past 16 years, COPIC has facilitated over 400 workshops
training over 5,000 health care practitioners in the elements of good
communication.
* COPIC developed and launched an innovative 3Rs Program - Recognize,
Respond, and Resolve. Today over 1,000 physicians are participating in
the program, which supports doctor-patient interaction following
unanticipated medical outcomes.
* COPIC worked with Colorado lawmakers to sponsor "I'm Sorry" legislation
that was signed into law in 2003. The legislation permits health care
providers and their employees to express regrets to patients and their
families over unanticipated outcomes, without fear that such expression
will be used against them in a legal proceeding.
* Through its bi-monthly Copiscope newsletter and other publications,
COPIC regularly communicates with its insured physicians on the subject
of communication training, risk management and other topics affecting
clinician patient relationships and quality of care.
"Last but not least," Dr. Carroll said, "COPIC has been generous in its commitment to improved health care communication. Besides defraying the costs of its workshops and other programs, the company has granted approximately $1.5 million, in the form of discounts on insurance premiums to health care professionals who have completed communication training programs."
Founded in 1981 as a self-insurance trust, COPIC Insurance Company was incorporated as a fully-licensed and regulated professional liability writer in 1984. Today the company, headquartered in Denver, is Colorado's largest medical malpractice insurer, insuring over 5,700 physicians in Colorado, representing approximately 80% of those who require private malpractice insurance.
COPIC also insures Colorado hospitals, health plans, and other medical entities, and offers physician and hospital coverage in Nebraska, where the company was named the state's endorsed carrier by the Nebraska Medical Association in 2002 and insures over 600 physicians.
The company's "A (Excellent)" rating was affirmed in August 2004 by A.M. Best Company. A subsidiary of The COPIC Trust, COPIC Insurance Company is directed by physicians, prices its coverage on a break-even basis, and returns favorable loss development to policyholders in the form of distributions; distributions to date total more than $98 million.
The Bayer Institute for Health Care Communication, headquartered in West Haven, Conn., was organized in 1987 to enhance the quality of health care by improving communication between clinician and patient. Nationally accredited, the Institute has partnered with hundreds of health care organizations throughout North America. The Institute's flagship workshop, Clinician-Patient Communication to Enhance Health Outcomes, has trained more than 100,000 clinicians in the "4Es" of communication (Engage, Empathize, Educate, Enlist).
Bayer Institute for Health Care CommunicationCONTACT: Bill Kelly of HarveyMalis Communications LLC, +1-203-375-2696,for Bayer Institute for Health Care Communication
Web site: http://www.harveymalis.com/