Texas Medical Liability Trust and Diligent: Better coverage for boards

The Texas Medical Liability Trust (TMLT) is the largest and most respected medical liability provider in the state and covers more than 18,000 Texas physicians. Regardless of specialty, practice type or location, TMLT offers medical malpractice insurance to protect the practices and professional reputations of its clients. TMLT has been a Diligent Boards™ user since 2012.

CHALLENGE

The Texas Medical Liability Trust (TMLT) was established in 1979. And thanks to TMLT’s services, medical practitioners throughout the state can perform services knowing their practices are covered against malpractice suits. As the region’s largest medical liability insurer, TMLT relies on solid governance to steer important strategic decisions.

TMLT has a board of governors with nine members that meets six times each year. A sub-committee that reviews insurance claims meets twice every year. Many members of the board also sit on the claims sub-committee.

According to Andrea Vickers, TMLT’s Executive Assistant who assists in putting together board materials, meeting the needs of the board was daunting at best. “It was a nightmare,” Vickers said. “It took us hundreds of hours to create the board materials to support our meetings.” That included collecting, copying and collating reports that were hundreds of pages long. The information was then put into binders and sent to the 17 members of the board, executive group and sub-committee.

Complicating matters: TMLT’s members are spread across the state of Texas, with one in each major metropolitan area. To meet deadlines, the TMLT team overnighted binders to the respective participants, adding more expense and complexity to an already daunting process.

APPROACH

Frustrated by the paper-based approach to managing board information, TMLT decided to explore online options. The staff networked with industry colleagues and found that one of TMLT’s associate companies used Diligent Boards.

After hearing rave reviews about the solution, TMLT decided to give Diligent Boards a try. “We were concerned about the tech savviness of some of our members,” said Vickers. “We provided them with iPads, but not all of them had experience using them.” Although at first some of the 17 users were uneasy about the security features of Boards, they quickly came to understand that using an online solution is even safer than using a binder. And a lot easier to carry.

RESULTS

As a result of switching to Diligent Boards, TMLT has seen a clear improvement in meeting engagement. “A week before a meeting, I send out an email,” said Vickers. “And remind board members that the material is ready. They have much more time to review it and internalize the information before sessions take place.”

And thanks to Boards, it’s easier for executives to contact each other since the application contains email addresses and other vital information. “Now they can just open their book and email each other on the fly,” Vickers added.