Firm specializes in medical malpractice insurance

John Glander and Robert Meadows of Professional Risk Associates Inc. understand the nuances of medical malpractice insurance.

Their company has specialized in medical malpractice insurance for physicians and physician groups since Glander founded the firm in 1989.

He started the company with one employee, Don Riley. The company employs 25 people, all of whom are now shareholders.

"John and Don were a good tag team," said Meadows, who joined the company in 1999 and now serves as executive vice president.

"John was a good salesman, and Don was very detailed and technical. Don now serves as vice president emeritus."

Glander built the business one client at a time.

"I made a lot of phone calls and sent out a lot of mailings. I traveled around," he said.

The company's growth in the early 1990s prompted Glander to bring in Meadows for his managerial expertise.

"I confronted the classic entrepreneurial problem: You don't want to let go, but I did," Glander said. "Bob is an experienced insurance person. I hire people smarter than me and give them the tools they need and then get out of their way."

When Meadows joined Professional Risk Associates a decade ago, the company generated about $19 million in annual premiums. Today, that volume is $70 million. It has averaged 26 percent growth in premiums per year since 1999.

The company grew from a handful of clients to more than 4,500 health-care providers, 3,500 of which are physicians. The remaining providers are medical personnel such as nurses and nurse midwives.

Its main thrust is Virginia, but the firm also has clients in West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and Washington. The agency soon will be doing business in central Pennsylvania and eastern Kentucky.

"Over the years, our philosophy has not been to expand [the company] by adding geographical territories," Glander said. "We want to capture the clients we have and keep them happy. Most of our new business comes from referrals from existing clients."

Dale Jenkins, the chief executive of Medical Mutual Insurance Co. of North America, based in Raleigh, N.C., heads one of the insurance carriers that Professional Risk Associates represents.

"Not many agents devote their entire agency to medical malpractice," he said. "Professional Risk Associates has a good focus on their customers. They want to take care of them."

Hospitals require that physicians have medical malpractice coverage. Professional Risk Associates offers plans to individual physicians and groups of physicians. "We find the best medical malpractice coverage that matches the physician's need," Meadows said.

Dr. Howard Faunce III of Radiology Associates of Richmond finds Professional Risk Associates to be helpful.

"They stay in touch and let us know of any developments that would be of concern to us regarding medical malpractice," he said. "When we have questions regarding our insurance coverage, we get very knowledgeable answers."

Malpractice premiums are usually the secondor third-largest expense item in a physician's practice.

"We try to get physicians the best price and premium as possible," Meadows said. "We take all the burden of the malpractice process off the physicians so they can practice medicine."

In the past four years, the company has added such services as referrals to outside consultants who work with physicians and physician practices regarding electronic health records and data systems.

"If records are stolen, it's a liability for a physician," Glander said. "We identified information technology coverage that helps protect physicians for that exposure."

Another coverage provides legal counsel and other representation for physicians who have to go through a peer review process or a government audit of billing practices.

In 2007, Glander sold Professional Risk Associates through an employee stock ownership plan trust, making each employee a shareholder.

"It's good for morale," Glander said. "These people are part of the business. They deserve to see the benefits of that."