Iowa House of Representatives

Insurance Commissioner Sue Voss said that Midwest Medical Insurance Company (MMCI) is reducing physician base rates by 9.6% for 2008. MMCI is a Minneapolis based physician-owned insurance company and the largest writer of medical malpractice insurance in Iowa.

Also — the MMCI web site http://www.mmicgroup.com/ says that beginning on January 1, 2008, MMCI will offer a premium credit to those who use electronic records. Press Release below:

MMIC to offer Electronic Medical Record Premium Credit to policyholders

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Minneapolis, Minn. — (Sept. 11, 2007). Beginning January 1, 2008, Midwest Medical Insurance Company will offer a premium credit to solo physicians and physician group policyholders using electronic medical records.

The MMIC board of directors believes strongly that EMRs can improve the quality of care through better patient safety. “As a physician-owned insurance company, our goal is to help our physicians reduce loss frequency and severity,” says MMIC CEO and President David Bounk. “Offering the premium credit just makes good business sense.”

To receive premium credits of 2-percent to 5-percent, a physician group has to meet the following requirements:

1. The EMR system must be certified by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT), the recognized certification authority for EMR systems.

2. The physician group must have implemented or plan to implement the latest vendor updates for their system.

3. At least 75 percent of the providers in the group must be using the EMR.

4. The group must have been using the EMR for at least a year.

5. The group must be using at least two of the six EMR’s functions listed on the application.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, the MMIC Group offers comprehensive professional liability and property and casualty insurance, as well as a range of technology and human resources products and services to physicians, clinics and hospitals in the Upper Midwest. MMIC, the insurance member of the MMIC Group, is one of the premier physician-owned specialty medical professional liability insurers in the country. MMIC Technology Solutions, a member of the MMIC Group, is an authorized reseller of the NextGen electronic medical record system.