Dec 28, 2020
Malpractice is No Joke
An interview with Rachel Warners of CPH & Associates on the ins and outs of liability insurance. Curt and Katie talk with Rachel about some myths related to therapist liability, the best practices in getting (and keeping yourself) insured. We also talk about the types of claims and the services that are covered when you’re insured. We look at how you can best protect yourself from malpractice claims and what the most common complaints (and consequences) are.
It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.
Interview with Rachel Warners, CPH & Associates
Rachel Warners is the Director of Operations at CPH & Associates, a leading provider of Professional Liability Insurance for mental health provider. Having been with CPH for 10 years, she understands the importance and unique nature of a therapists work and is proud to partner with them in protecting their career.
In this episode we talk about:
- Why you need liability insurance
- The benefit of keeping liability insurance continuously through your whole career
- Why you may need a policy while working as a W-2 with an employer who is covering you
- Debunking some myths about your liability
- The problem with letting your policy lapse or having a gap in coverage
- The benefits of continuously coverage (especially if you’d like to get credentialed with insurance)
- The types of services you’re entitled to when you’re covered
- The ability consult when you get subpoenaed
- Common board complaints and lawsuits, like practicing outside the scope of licensure, negligent supervision, boundary and dual relationship issues, custody conflicts, unprofessional conduct
- When you are not covered, even when you have insurance
- The consequences of having a board complaint whether the complaint is dismissed or not (and how to navigate reporting this to your insurance carrier, etc)
- How often complaints are founded or unfounded
- The cost of protecting yourself from complaints
- Other types of insurance you may want to consider as a practice owner (general liability - slip and fall, personal property coverage, cyber liability)
- Insuring your corporate name
- The importance of protecting yourself and using insurance to cover costs of handling your defense or the required steps to repair what is broken
- The ways that you can avoid liability, including accessing the resources availability to you
- Considerations for Telehealth
Resources mentioned:
We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!
CPH & Associates: www.cphins.com
CPH phone line: 312-987-9823 | 800-875-1911
Articles on Avoiding Liability
Relevant Episodes:
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Who we are:
Curt Widhalm is in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is the cofounder of the Therapy Reimagined conference, an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University and CSUN, a former Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, former CFO of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com
Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant supporting leaders, visionaries, executives, and helping professionals to create sustainable careers. Katie, with Curt, has developed workshops and a conference, Therapy Reimagined, to support therapists navigating through the modern challenges of this profession. Katie is also Past President of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com
A Quick Note:
Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.
Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.
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Credits:
Voice Over by DW McCann https://www.facebook.com/McCannDW/
Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/