From the Chairman
Reflections on The Doctor’s Advocate, a Flagship Publication for Healthcare Leaders
Summary
The Doctor’s Advocate has a long history of helping healthcare leaders stay ahead of change and tackle emerging complications in the practice environment.
This year, we celebrate The Doctors Company’s 50th anniversary, and it is an ideal time to reflect on our legacy of serving those who care for us. Founded and led by physicians, we are inextricably aligned with the medical profession and relentlessly dedicated to the interests of our members. This member focus is at the core of all our services, including how we communicate about the company and how we share our expert insights to help reduce risk and improve patient care.
For the first decades after our founding, The Doctors Company produced two member newsletters—Newsline and Risk Management. In 1993, we surveyed our members about how they wanted to hear from us. From their feedback, we developed a new, all-inclusive publication: The Doctor’s Advocate, combining risk management and patient safety insights, updates on coverage and policy features, insurance news, and the latest information on our legislative advocacy efforts.
The name “The Doctor’s Advocate” reflects our commitment to supporting our members beyond providing high-quality professional liability insurance coverage. That commitment has only deepened over the course of our history, as we continue to be an advocate for healthcare professionals from the exam room, to the courtroom, to the legislature.
The Doctor’s Advocate has become an integral publication for healthcare professionals nationwide, sharing innovative resources and strategies that help them stay ahead of change and tackle emerging complications in the practice environment.
This publication features timely insights from not only our internal experts, but also from renowned guest authors who graciously share their unique perspectives. These guest authors have tackled specialty-specific issues, such as surgical considerations for patients on new medications like GLP-1s and risk reduction strategies when performing in-office sedation in dental practices. Guest authors have also shared their experiences with new avenues in medicine, including insights from practices first integrating artificial intelligence into their systems and hospitals implementing simulation drills to improve care in emergent situations.
When the COVID-19 pandemic upended healthcare overnight, The Doctor’s Advocate was a key avenue to share vital guidance and later to reflect on the exceptional challenges faced, the incredible heroism we witnessed from all healthcare professionals, and lessons learned.
Over the years, we’ve used The Doctor’s Advocate to listen to the clinician voice through surveys, essay contests, and “Letters to the Editor.” It has become a place to learn, offering the opportunity for readers to earn continuing education credits from studying our closed claims data. This publication has helped clinicians stay current on the shifting legislative environment—including new medical liability reform opportunities and emerging courtroom trends, like the recent impact of increasing nuclear verdicts—and has guided them on how to share their voice with their elected representatives.
In The Doctor’s Advocate, we’ve celebrated milestones, shared stories from our members, and built a community of those dedicated to superior healthcare. As we look to the future, The Doctors Company remains committed to providing these expert resources and responding to your needs, regardless of where and how you practice.
Our mission to advance, protect, and reward the practice of good medicine has never been more important. We look forward to sharing The Doctor’s Advocate with you for decades to come.
Looking Back at
The Doctor’s Advocate
The first-ever edition of The Doctor’s Advocate.
This publication has always been a key venue to share company news, such as this 1993 article announcing our expansion into new states.
Announcing our website in 1996.
In 1997, we added an additional risk management column, “Protect Your Practice,” and introduced “Letters to the Editor” and guest author columns.
The Doctor’s Advocate often features stories of interest about our employees and leaders.
We focus on the latest developments in healthcare and technology, such as this discussion of iHealthRecord, an online personal health record, from our Medical Director in 2005.
The Doctor’s Advocate is a place to celebrate milestones and achievements, like the fifth anniversary of the Tribute® Plan, our breakthrough member benefit.
Guest author articles allow us to provide a wide variety of unique perspectives, like this article featuring lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, written by the Chief Medical Officer of a major health system in New York.
The Doctor’s Advocate is a key avenue to communicate with our members about how we are evolving to meet their needs in the ever-changing healthcare environment.
As The Doctor’s Advocate has evolved, we’ve integrated timely insights from social media and new forms of risk management content, like our closed claims study videos.
The look of The Doctor’s Advocate has changed alongside our company’s growth.
Our last printed edition of The Doctor’s Advocate was Fourth Quarter 2024, before the publication went digital.
The Doctor’s Advocate is published by The Doctors Company to advise and inform its members about loss prevention and insurance issues.
The guidelines suggested in this newsletter are not rules, do not constitute legal advice, and do not ensure a successful outcome. They attempt to define principles of practice for providing appropriate care. The principles are not inclusive of all proper methods of care nor exclusive of other methods reasonably directed at obtaining the same results.
The ultimate decision regarding the appropriateness of any treatment must be made by each healthcare provider considering the circumstances of the individual situation and in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction in which the care is rendered.
The Doctor’s Advocate is published quarterly by Corporate Communications, The Doctors Company. Letters and articles, to be edited and published at the editor’s discretion, are welcome. The views expressed are those of the letter writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or official policy of The Doctors Company. Please sign your letters, and address them to the editor.
