Medical malpractice insurance isn’t just about writing liability policies anymore. It’s becoming more about mitigating risk, boosting patient safety and helping to reduce the number of medical errors that can lead to malpractice suits.
Coverys, a med-mal insurer based in Boston, is continuing the move to diversify its own business by purchasing MRM Group, a Hartford, Connecticut-based patient safety and risk management company, for an undisclosed sum. “We have a strong focus on risk management and patient safety,” Coverys COO Joseph Murphy said, explaining the rationale for the purchase.
“This acquisition reinforces our strategic focus to support the healthcare provider community by expanding our portfolio of services that can be offered in conjunction with our insurance protection or on a stand-alone basis, determined by the needs and desires of those we serve,” Coverys CEO and President Gregg L. Hanson added in a press release.
Coverys, which collects $420 million in malpractice premiums annually, has now completed five acquisitions in the last two years. Of particular note, in August 2014, the company bought ELM Exchange, a provider of online continuing medical and nursing education for risk reduction and patient safety.
“The MRM acquisition fits nicely with the ELM services,” Murphy told MedCity News.
MRM — founded in 2003 as Medical Risk Management — offers in-person tutorials, but it also brings an online, cloud-based learning services platform that Murphy loves. “We were very attracted to their platform,” he said. Murphy added that Coverys is considering migrating all of its training to the MRM platform, though no decision has been made yet.
MRM also will allow Coverys to expand its ability to serve self-insured healthcare organizations by providing a wider range of risk management services. Coverys already had been beefing up this part of its business, too.
Last year, Coverys bought an unspecified minority stake in Archway Health Advisors, a company that advises healthcare providers on risk management. Archway, of Brookline, Massachusetts, has been designated a “convener” in the CMS Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative, giving it the right to bring organizations together under Medicare outcomes-based payment models.
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