Alterna to Provide Captive and RRG Management Services Focused Exclusively on Medical Professional Liability

SEATTLE, Sept. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Alterna announced its entry into the alternative risk marketplace, specifically focusing on medical professional liability, providing physician, clinic, and hospital groups a new level of expertise all found in one company.

Most group insurance facilities (i.e., risk retention groups (RRGs), captives) have several third-party service providers supporting their core structure which can result in gaps in service and information sharing. "We formed Alterna with a one-company approach," says Mary-Lou Misrahy, CEO. "In addition to being able to unbundle services when wanted by the insured group, we also are leveraging our deep in-house expertise to the advantage of physicians and hospitals. This way groups have a choice to stick with their existing vendors, or they can receive all the needed expertise and service under one roof."

Alterna offers in-house expertise in financial reporting, regulatory compliance, underwriting and policy issuance, risk management consulting and live support, continuing medical education (accredited and specialty-specific), claims administration, and other management services including marketing, reinsurance, Web hosting, and more. "We believe we offer the most comprehensive set of services making it easier and more cost-effective for captives to operate in today's economy and risk financing environment," noted Misrahy.

Physicians, clinics, and hospitals have a variety of captive insurance structures to choose from, all with different regulatory requirements depending on the state in which the captive is located. The participants in the captive, however, do not have to be located in the same state (or even country) as the captive. "All this can get complicated which is why the deep expertise of the captive management company is critical," says Misrahy. "It's time that physicians, clinics, and hospitals had both deep medical professional liability experience combined with captive management expertise."

Alterna currently has two risk retention management companies under contract servicing SCRUBS RRG (www.scrubsrrg.com) and EMPAC RRG (www.empacrrg.com).

About Alterna
Alterna provides the health care industry with alternative risk solutions, management, and services to maximize any and all insurance-related benefits. The team of industry experts combines deep medical professional liability insurance expertise with proven hands-on experience in analyzing, developing, and managing group, captive, risk retention group, and other insurance facilities. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Physicians Insurance A Mutual Company, which has a 30-year market-leading history of providing medical professional liability insurance. Alterna has offices in Florida, Nevada, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia

About Physicians Insurance
Physicians Insurance A Mutual Company provides medical professional liability insurance coverage to more than 7,000 members in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Wyoming, in addition to risk-management consulting, continuing medical education, and claims administration services. The company, founded in 1981, has grown to be the largest insurer of physicians in Washington State and is rated A- (Excellent) by A.M. Best Company.[i] Physicians Insurance maintains corporate headquarters in Seattle, with regional offices in Spokane, Washington, and Portland, Oregon.

[i] A.M. Best's ratings are on a scale from A++ (superior) down to D (poor) with even lower ratings for companies under regulatory supervision or in liquidation.

SOURCE Alterna