When starting a practice, you are faced with all sorts of fees – licenses (business and professional), liability insurance, startup equipment (clinical and clerical), legal fees, salaries, and the like. You might be tempted to fore go the business insurance…not a good thing to do.
I didn’t…and boy was I glad this morning when I got to the office.
Tuesday is our Monday at Aberdeen Primary Care. I was not in the office yesterday – I like working from home when I can. However, Johanna was in the office for a while yesterday. Everything was fine. I went in early and just started working at my desk (will I ever get all those L&I reports done?). Chris (the MA that is leaving) comes in and starts to prepare rooms. I then hear her call out for me to ask “What the heck happened?” (she may have uttered a bit stronger of a word).
I’m sure the look on my face was one for the records. Our ceiling had come crashing in and everything was wet! Not only that, but in the room next door, the laptop had been sitting in a puddle of water. I had hoped it was only just barely sitting, but when I picked it up and water ran out of it….well I had a few choice words to say as well. Our day was scheduled to start in exactly 7 minutes.
Suffice it to say, we somehow saw everyone (albeit, a little later than we anticipated) and still got to lunch on time. The rooms have been repaired (except for the laptop).
Back to insurance: one of the issues, will always be whose insurance will pay. Of course, ours wants the building owners to pay, and the building owner wants ours to pay. Then here is the issue of the deductible, which may make everything a moot point. One of the things that are important…go around your clinic and take pictures of EVERYTHING for documentation purposes. Keep that camera handy for situations like today. I just happened to have my camera with me…good thing! I was able to show water and a wet computer.
While it may all end being a wash as far as the computer goes…I’m still glad we have the insurance. And…I’m ever so grateful that no one was hurt, and the damage was not worse than it was.
Hi Barbara,
I am so sorry that happened at your office! Thank you for sharing the photo, as it makes it real. I finally have my furnishings and will be taking photos soon to put on my website http://www.healingpresencenp.com . I am checking on the business insurance as of last week. My corporate insurance is through NSO, and they did tell me it included workplace liability, but I need to double check on the building, for flooding, fire, etc. Good reminder. Carla Anderson