Page 33 - SFHN March 2018

Cover Story: Danna-Gracey:

Providing Premier Medical Malpractice Let’s Connect:

Advice to South Florida Providers
SFHEF Spotlight

Continued from page 1 medical malpractice insurance compa-
employee benefits. nies and agencies are alike and that it
“We are seeing and predicting a much doesn’t matter who you purchase cover- March 2018
more difficult market for doctors age from.
throughout Florida because of this deci- “They think that it’s just an insurance
sion,” adds Gracey. “We are counseling policy and all insurers are basically the Haroula Protopapadakis
doctors now to focus on the quality of same. This couldn’t be further from the MEMBER-AT-LARGE
their malpractice insurance carrier’s truth,” says Gracey. “During good times 2018 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
financial conditions.” for doctors’ malpractice insurance like
In a blog post Gracey wrote on his we had for the last 10-12 years, providers Haroula Protopapadakis was born and raised in
company’s website, he recommends that have been able to be insured with very South Florida. Growing up her mother worked in
physicians take these five action steps: small and fragile insurers with less risk. healthcare, and she always wanted to emulate that
1. Review your insurance coverage and Now that the market is changing this and also have a career in healthcare. Haroula
determine if your insurer is financially will not be the case.” attended Nova Southeastern University where she
secure enough to last through some Another misconception is that many received a Bachelor in Business Administration
years of deteriorating financial results. providers believe that all insurance com- and a Masters in Business Administration with a
Gracey predicts many of the A.M. Best panies handle claims the same way. concentration in Healthcare.
unrated insurers and small risk retention Many carriers, particularly the smaller Haroula is a Fellow of the American College of Haroula Protopapadakis
groups (RRGs) will fail in the next five ones, are not as financially sound and Healthcare Executives.
years or be forced to sell to the larger settle all or the vast majority of their Haroula began her career in healthcare when
insurers. For those insured with captives cases. They will even settle the defensi- she was in college working at Memorial Regional
and assessable RRGs, he recommends to ble ones because they don’t want to Hospital in the Admitting and Registration department. She then worked in the
consider switching coverage to the more spend money on the legal fees. pharmaceutical sales industry. Haroula returned to the Memorial system working
financially stable carriers. “Doctors don’t get good advice and as the Director of Business Development and Physician Relations for Memorial
2. Consider increasing your policy never look behind the marketing of some South, Memorial Rehabilitation Institute, and then Memorial Regional Hospital
limits of liability since there are now no of these insurers to see what happens for several years before being promoted to her current role as the Associate
limits on non-economic damages that when they have a claim,” says Gracey. “It Administrator of Memorial Regional Hospital.
can be awarded in Florida. can go very differently depending who you In this role she oversees many support departments in the facility including
3. Get serious about risk manage- have a claim with. Some physicians also security, telecommunications, central services, transportation, food and nutrition
ment—it works. Many insurers offer for think they need to consent to a settle- services, environmental services, volunteer services, valet and parking, the fitness
free very comprehensive in-office assess- ment.” center, cardiac and pulmonary rehab, and patient and family centered care. She
ments and a wide array of best practice Some carriers give their insurers a right also oversees the Division of Neurosciences for the healthcare system.
recommendations, as well as astute arti- to consent to any settlement 100 percent Haroula loves working for Memorial Healthcare System. She truly believes in
cles on cutting edge ways to reduce your of the time; some give partial consent; and the mission and vision of her organization and the vital role Memorial plays in
risk of being sued. some give no ability to consent at all. In delivering high level quality care, and comprehensive services and programs to
4. Polish your communication skills. this case, the insurance company holds all the community.
Poor skills lead to unhappy patients and of the power to consent to settle any Throughout her employment at Memorial, Haroula has donated to and volun-
lawsuits. Remember that patients do not claims against their insured doctors. teered her time with many different organizations such as United Way, American
care how much you know until they “There is a vast difference and most fail Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, Broward County Schools, the
know how much you care, as Sir William to ask that question, which is why they Memorial Foundation, and the Epilepsy Foundation of South Florida. In 2018
Osler so wisely said. need to ask good questions,” notes Gracey. she was elected to the South Florida Healthcare Executive Forum as a Member-
5. Review and update your asset pro- That’s why Danna-Gracey works closely at-Large.
tection now, not after you have been with their clients to identify insurance
sued. needs specific to their medical specialties
Danna-Gracey has had great success as and practices. Their personalized client
a specialist in the medical malpractice attention, complete independence so their
arena by simply giving doctors good loyalty is with their clients and their com-
advice such as the points above. mand of the insurance marketplace enable
“Doctors are much smarter than we them to effectively negotiate competitive
are,” says Gracey. “But we have more rates and coverage – even with the top car- Visit us on the web at
knowledge about malpractice insurance riers.
www.southfloridahospitalnews.com
policies and other coverages that they “Doctors are knowledge based people www.southfloridahospitalnews.com
carry. We have the information that they and they deserve to make good decisions
don’t have. As a firm, we try to give them by having all the information or by finding
as much information as we can about a specialist that they can trust,” says
our knowledge of coverage so they can Gracey.
make much better decisions than if they
had no knowledge.” For more information, visit
One misconception that Gracey often dannagracey.com.
sees is that providers believe that all

Broward College Wins $50,000

Siemens-Aspen Community

College STEM Award

The Broward College Nursing Program has been named a winner of the inaugural
Siemens-Aspen Community College STEM Award by the Aspen Institute College
Excellence Program (CEP) and the Siemens Foundation.
Broward College will receive an award of $50,000 and is among eight exceptional
community college programs in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM),
recognized for providing outstanding preparation for high-demand jobs in advanced
manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and information technology. Half of this award
will be allocated for further program development, and half will be allocated as schol-
arships to students, known as Siemens Technical Scholars.

South Florida Hospital News southfloridahospitalnews.com March 2018 33