Agency Profile: Unique Pair Breaks New Ground to Conquer Challenges in the Medical Profession

The term “influencer” gets thrown around liberally nowadays. After all, it’s a word that was only officially added to the dictionary in 2019; so, perhaps its current definition is still finding its meaning.

But influencing is certainly not a recent concept. Dating back thousands of years, the ability to influence people was actually associated with astrology. The positioning of planets and stars was believed by many to be a major factor for causing human behavior and predicting the occurrence of events.

In either context, past or present, scientific or social, one thing is for sure: Influencing has the power to create change. And when we look at influencing through the lens of the healthcare industry, medical societies are some of the most influential organizations in the country.

Look just a bit deeper and you’ll find the Medical Society of Virginia (MSV) and its affiliate company, the Medical Society of Virginia Insurance Agency (MSVIA), as a prime example of influencing change for the better in the medical profession. Established in 1999, MSVIA just celebrated its 25th anniversary—and a 98 percent retention rate to boot—and is focused not only on growing business, but also on strengthening its support services for local physicians and expanding them to other states.

“We’re really proud of the MSVIA story—we are one of the premier professional liability agencies in the region,” said Stacie Cutchins, MBA, PLCS, Senior Vice President of Property and Casualty for MSVIA. “We report to a board of physicians, practice managers, and insurance professionals, and our profits go back to MSV and to programs that support medical practitioners, legislative efforts, and continuing education opportunities. MSVIA exists to help practices of any size with their comprehensive risk management and insurance needs—not just professional liability—but we also work hard alongside our medical society to protect and advocate for Virginia doctors. We’re all one big team.”

And when asked exactly how the Medical Society of Virginia and its affiliated agency do this, Stacie lit up with excitement.

“We have . . . oh my goodness, we have so many things!”

Mental Health and Well-Being Programs

The COVID-19 pandemic was an incredible mental health challenge for people of all ages, and especially for healthcare workers, with physician burnout reaching an all-time high. In 2020, after recognizing a greater need to provide healthcare teams the necessary support to stay well, the Medical Society of Virginia worked to offer clinicians a robust set of well-being resources—including counseling, peer coaching, leadership development, and even a work-life concierge—that they can use without risking their medical license.

The resources program that was formed is known as SafeHaven.

“During the pandemic, we had a lot of physicians that were telling us, ‘We’re getting burned out, but we’re scared to go talk to somebody.’ And doctors did not have the same privacy privileges as everybody else had. So, we created legislation that got passed in the Virginia General Assembly—actually, the first of its kind in the country—where we got greater confidentiality protections for doctors. Through SafeHaven, they can now get confidential assistance without being in fear of losing their license because someone’s going to discover it. SafeHaven is a program with a network of licensed counselors where the doctor can call and talk to somebody to get help.”

SafeHaven became so successful that as of 2021, legal protections have been extended through additional legislation to include nurses and pharmacists, as well as medical, nursing, physician assistant, and pharmacy students. What’s more, the program has been fully adopted by six other SafeHaven states, and there are three states that have had partial SafeHaven legislation enacted.

“SafeHaven is more than a program,” Stacie explained. “It’s become a movement that we’re working with medical societies all over the U.S. to have this program and these important services available to practitioners in their state. Whether they’re having alcohol or substance abuse issues, suffering from depression, or just completely overwhelmed, healthcare professionals experiencing burnout now have someone to turn to in confidence.”

Crisis Aversion

With such success positively impacting the physician community, MSV and MSVIA extend their support to the patient community in a similar manner. 

“Pediatric patients are experiencing a mental health crisis too—it has been developing for years. The pandemic did not cause a mental health crisis among our nation’s children, but it did exasperate it while exposing challenges that existed prior to adding COVID-19 to the mix.”

So, also in 2020, the MSV Foundation, which allocates funds generated by MSVIA to develop programs and initiatives, was named the program administrator for the Virginia Mental Health Access Program (VMAP) by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. VMAP is a statewide program designed to provide access for children to mental health services including child psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and care coordination.

“It’s not fair to expect pediatricians to provide services for their patients that they don’t necessarily have the expertise in. They deserve support from specialists in closely related fields who can offer their patients the mental health services a child needs to help combat suicidal thoughts, depression, or other mental health issues. The well-being of the patient is just as critical as the well-being of the physician. So, much like SafeHaven, we have a network where primary care practitioners can call the hotline and receive advice and even tools and training to help their patients seek behavioral healthcare.”

This endeavor has yielded enough positive results that the MSV Foundation is working with other organizations in Virginia to put together an adult version of the mental health services program.

Advocacy Action

In addition to the programs MSV and MSVIA are involved in, the pair makes sure to have a steady presence in Virginia’s legislative proceedings surrounding healthcare—with the goal of protecting medical professionals and patients to ensure Virginia is the best place to practice medicine and receive care. Their advocacy work includes having a house of delegates with representatives across the state, an advocacy committee, and an annual advocacy summit to put forward a plan of action to address current issues for patients and practitioners and to guide future advocacy proposals.

“Everybody in the country is a potential patient, including doctors,” Stacie said. “It’s important for all of us to have a doctor, and I want to make sure doctors are kept in practice. Right now, some people are trying to get to a physician, and it takes weeks or even months to see one. So I feel really passionate about what we’re doing to make sure healthcare professionals have a voice and are able to provide the best medical care they can without having obstacles in the way, whether it be from government or regulations that maybe aren’t sensible and were created without the input of a physician—that’s where our advocacy comes in. I feel very strongly about that. And I would think that most people, when they’re in need of care, want to make sure that a good practitioner is available in a reasonable timeframe and there’s not regulations in place that prevent them from getting the care that they need.”