Page 6 - SFHNApril20finalSTUART.qxp_SFHN 0608 Friday 5.0

Cover Story: Individual APP Policies
VITAS® Healthcare Says
Can Result in Costly Surprises
‘Xin Chào’ and ‘Kumusta’ with

Its Latest VITAS.com Translations Continued from page 1 the doctor has, and has a separate policy,
According to the new law, advanced
nurse practitioners with at least 3,000 the case can get focused on them instead
into Tagalog and Vietnamese hours of experience under the supervi- of the doctor or practice, which is never an
sion of a physician can qualify to provide enviable position to be in.”
VITAS Healthcare announces the addition of Vietnamese and Tagalog languages services including family medicine, gen- If the policies are with different insur-
to its recently redesigned website, joining existing versions in English, Spanish eral pediatrics and general internal med- ance agencies, then the claims representa-
and Mandarin icine. The law does not currently cover tive that the APP’s insurance company
VITAS, which has seen steady growth in multiple markets across the nation, other APPs. appoints starts handling the case, and the
also saw an increase in non-English users of its website (38,000 new users in “From an insurance angle, many prac- doctor’s malpractice company can find
2018). This growing demand for non-English content led VITAS to add two of the tices are not aware of the repercussions,” itself involved in the defense of the APP
highest in-demand languages, Vietnamese and Tagalog, to meet the needs of he continued. “Most practices that have provider.
patients and healthcare professionals with unique and diverse backgrounds. “Xin APPs have them listed on their malprac- “Unity of defense is a sacred principle
chào” and “kumusta” mean “hello,” respectively, in Vietnamese and Tagalog, the tice insurance as either shared limit of lia- that you don’t want to violate, and the
national language of the Philippines. bility or separate limit of liability for each claims defense can be considerably weak-
“Providing the highest quality of care means giving patients, families and APP. This is good because the coverage is ened in this scenario,” said Gracey. “It’s
healthcare providers easy access to information in their preferred language and to all in one place. The problem comes when better to have the same insurance compa-
hospice providers who understand their cultures and values,” said Drew an APP decides to go out and purchase ny and the same representation presenting
Landmeier, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of VITAS Healthcare. their own policy, often without knowledge a unified front for the defense.”
“By extending our website’s reach through careful translations, more people can of the practice.” Gracey warned that because the APP’s
easily access end-of-life-care resources from any device, resulting in an overall According to Gracey, APP insurance limits of liability can be much higher, it
enhanced patient experience,” Landmeier explained. “This initiative also rein- most often has a higher limit for a relative- can also result in higher judgements.
forces our longstanding investments in resources that meet the needs of our ly small amount of money. “This is attrac- “This can also result in ‘finger-pointing’
diverse communities, including patient and caregiver hospice training materials tive to a lot of APPs, especially if they are between defendants, and when you’ve got
in Spanish, Mandarin, Creole and several other languages.” concerned about the law that limits what co-defendants pointing fingers, the out-
Diane Deese, vice president of community affairs for VITAS, said an earlier doctors need to carry, or if they’re moon- comes are usually compromised,” he
translation of the website into Mandarin involved cooperation from Mandarin- lighting,” he explained. “The coverage that added.
fluent clinicians and religious leaders who continue to use it as a valuable educa- the practice has would most likely not To avoid this type of situation, practices
tional resource. extend to those activities, so buying a sep- should ask their APPs if they have such
“We want to remove language barriers and knowledge gaps that keep eligible arate policy might seem like the right solu- policies. “If they do, we recommend get-
patients from experiencing the benefits of compassionate, end-of-life care. Adding tion. ting individual policies or a separate limits
Vietnamese and Tagalog supports our goal of expanding access to hospice care in “We’re finding this happening much policy through the same insurance compa-
minority communities by providing information in their own languages,” Deese more often than anyone realizes, because ny that the doctor has,” said Gracey,
explained. “Further, by translating our resources that support health care profes- APPs want more protection than what adding that that can even be less expensive
sionals, clinicians have the necessary information to care for these communities.” they have with the doctor,” he added. “It’s than a policy at another insurer. “Some
a flaw in the design of insurance cover- insurance companies even allow moon-
age.” lighting as long as the doctor approves it.
The drawback is that in a bad claim sit- “They may not need to have a separate
uation, APPs might find themselves get- policy, but they do need to discuss this
ting a lot more attention than they want. issue with their employer to make sure
“In this type of situation, the doctor gets that they have their coverage properly
sued along with the practice or corpora- aligned,” he added.
tion, and any provider on the patient chart
gets sued, including the APPs,” Gracey For more information, contact Matt
explained. “In discovery, if it comes out Gracey or Tom Murphy at (800) 966-2120
that the APP has much higher limits than or visit www.dannagracey.com.

Snapshots

26th Annual Conine All-Star

Golf Classic Raises $262,000
The Right DDirection
Brighteer Future.
for a to Assist Families of Sick Children

The Conine All-Star Golf Classic, now
in its 26th year, raised $262,000 to
Visit us at underwrite expenses at the Conine
soouthuniversity.edu/wwestpalmbeach Clubhouse at Joe DiMaggio Children’s
Call us at 1..866.242.1840 Hospital in Hollywood. The clubhouse is
a hotel-like facility that provides free
lodging to parents and siblings during a
child’s hospital stay.
Since 1995, fundraising done at this
tournament by former major league
ballplayer Jeff and Cindy Conine has
raised nearly $7 million to underwrite
the facility’s operating expenses. To date,
more than 12,000 families have stayed
there to remain close to sick kids during
critical times in their lives.
Celebrity attendees included: Pudge
Rodriguez (pictured), Ki-Jana Carter, Tony Nathan, Gaby Sanchez, Bob
r P og r ams , cr eden tial lev els , t echnology , and scheduling opttions v ar y b y school and ar e subjec tt o change . Brudzinski, Luis Alicea, and many others.
S outh Univ ersit , y W est P alm B eachh, Univ ersit y C en tr e , 9801 B elv eder e R d ., R y o al P alm B each, FL 334111. © 2020 S outh Univ ersit y . A ll r igh ts r eser v ed .
Lic ensed b y the F lor ida C ommission or Ionf ndependen tE duca tion, Lic ense No . 2987.

6 April 2020 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News