Channeling Definition

Channeling: What Is It?
Instead of forcing workers and related people to obtain separate insurance policies, channeling is a business insurance coverage that protects them under a single policy. This type of insurance has a connection to the medical field.

Comprehending Channeling
Hospitals and medical facilities that cover their physicians and medical personnel under a general liability policy are most frequently linked to channeling. Hospital doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel run the danger of one day being mentioned in a lawsuit, such as one alleging medical misconduct. Medical practitioners frequently get professional liability insurance to maintain coverage since defending against these cases may be costly.

The claimant may identify both the hospital and the doctor in the lawsuit if they are covered by different insurance. In an attempt to lower its risk exposure, the hospital may try to place the responsibility on the physician.

To lower the possibility of an antagonistic relationship arising, companies may decide to acquire a master channeling policy to guarantee that the hospital and its employees have a shared legal defense against the claim litigation. Because there is only one insurance rather than hundreds of liability policies, it also lowers administrative expenses.

Channeling Substitutes
Other than traditional channeling, there are a number of ways to keep hospitals and physicians on the same side of a medical negligence case.

Patients would have to supply their own malpractice insurance under a different channeling scheme. Low-income individuals, however, might not be able to purchase this kind of insurance. Additionally, it would not incentivize doctors, hospitals, or health plans to offer better treatment.

A no-fault medical injury compensation system would offer a further option to channeling. A pure no-fault system would pay patients for any harm brought on by medical care, regardless of whether the harm was the result of physician carelessness or an inevitable risk associated with the patient’s necessary care. This is in contrast to negligence or a fault-based tort system. Medical causality, not medical carelessness, would be the standard.