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Stav Gare
Genre Analysis
10/07/15
Medical Malpractice Insurance Forms
One of the most important fields is and has always been the medical
field. Even before the times of hospitals, private clinics, etc., there was
always a need for medical attention. Whether it is at a young age from
breaking an arm or being an elderly person with an illness, health and
medicine have always been on peoples top needs and priorities. This never
ending necessity for treatments has caused a high demand for medical
professionals. However, this field is one that takes years of studying and
mastering in order to become qualified. Students who want to become
doctors on average spend eleven years to become a certified MD (doctor of
medicine), not including specializing in a specific area. Although most
doctors that are certified are very talented in their field, doctors are only
human and can make mistakes when diagnosing a patient. These medical
errors can lead to the injury or death of the patient. This then leads to the
patient or the patients family suing the physician for medical malpractice.
Medical malpractice is defined as Improper, unskilled, or negligent
treatment of a patient by a physician, dentist, nurse, pharmacist, or other

HEALTH CARE

professional.(Wests Encyclopedia of Amercan Law). These

rhetorical situations that are repeated and have different appropriate

responses to each circumstance leads to malpractice insurance being
essential in the discourse community of medical professionals. As Devitt
discusses in Generalizing about Genres, by connecting the dynamics of
genres to discourse community and other social frames, a genre must
respond dynamically to human behavior and social changes (Devitt, 579).
This means that by being part of society and its ever-changing habits, people
change society and therefore change genres. This further shows that
because health care is widely used in society, in order for doctors to continue
practicing they need to be protected from any possible situation that can
harm their medical license. Because being sued for medical malpractice isnt
uncommon in the medical field, professionals in this industry have liability
insurance to prevent the negative outcomes of lawsuits.
The first step in receiving liability insurance is by filling out a medical
malpractice insurance proposal form for healthcare establishments and
healthcare professionals. Each insurance company may seem to have similar
layouts throughout these forms, but when analyzing each section of these
forms, there are some stark differences. The proposal forms of the insurance
companies Vero, RenaissanceRe, and Hiscox all portray rhetorical appeals,
use of highlighting, structure, and authority/power.

The rhetorical appeals of these forms display one way insurance

companies persuade doctors to fill out these forms. This is mainly portrayed
through ethos. Ethos represents credibility or an ethical appeal which involves persuasion
by the character involved.(Ethos) In all three of these proposal forms they use the terms
healthcare professionals. This displays the insurance companies acknowledgment that
physicians are professionals, which may persuade physicians to trust this source. However, each
of these forms also has different ways of showing credibility. Vero has a section mainly on
important information that a physician should be aware of including questions that are
commonly asked. By displaying these questions that are commonly asked proves that Vero is a
reliable source and understands medical malpractice. Furthermore, at the end of the form
different addresses and phone numbers are displayed of Vero branches all over the world. These
multiple offices are another proof that Vero is depended upon by many people, which verifies it
to be a trustworthy source. However, RenaissanceRe shows credibility in a different way. By
writing their address 125 Old Broad Street London, EC2 1AR, U.K. shows that their firm is in
London, which is a business booming area. One can only assume from this that in order to be a
firm in London, they have to be a respectable insurance company. Lastly, Hiscox illustrates their
credibility by having a footnote Hiscox Underwriting Ltd is authorized and regulated by
Financial Conduct Activity. By being underwritten proves that a reputable source is approving
of all their statements. Although Vero, RenaissanceRe, and Hiscox have different types of ethos,
they all persuade doctors to comply and complete these forms.
Another way insurance companies persuade or dissuades physicians to choose their firm
is through their highlighting in these forms. When first looking at these forms, they may seem to
highlight the same things, but every firm emphasizes on what they find to be significant to them.

For instance, Vero highlights the important information section and states that you should read
the following advice before proceeding to complete this Proposal form. (Vero) By stressing this
section, one can infer that Vero primarily cares about stating the laws so the physician cant be
confused of the requirements to be insured by this firm. This proves that in a way Vero is also
trying to exclude physicians by scaring them with all these laws. Vero does this not to reassure
the doctors, but to reassure themselves that there isnt any information/criteria left out that can be
used against them. On the other hand, RenaissanceRe emphasizes on the information that the
physician is required to complete. RenaissanceRe information section is expounded upon
through many specific questions demonstrating that their goal is more about knowing every
detail that can help them defend the physician in a lawsuit. Hiscox proposal form highlights
Which sections you should complete. This implies that not all sections in this form are
required for every physician and that some sections are specific to a specialized organization.
This form is concise and can be less time consuming for doctors to complete proving that Hiscox
understands the limited time physicians have and try to make it more accessible. By pinpointing
the highlighted areas in each of these forms conveys the firms priorities.
Another format variation in these forms has to do with the structure. Structure includes
the parts in the forms and how each section is expounded upon. All these forms contain an
explanation of that specific proposal form, general information section, a claims section, and a
declaration section. A claims section is similar to that of a claim made when getting into a car
accident. The claim states any past requests for payments by the insured. For example, in Veros
form it states Has the Insured or any principal, partner, director, consultant, or employee
incurred any other loss or expense which might be within the terms of the Medical Malpractice
cover (Vero, 9). The declaration section is declaring that all statements and particulars

contained in the proposal are true and that I/we have not mis-stated or suppressed any material
facts (RenaissanceRe, 16). As stated previously, each firm emphasizes on a different section.
Vero only has five sections: important information, details of the insured, claims and
circumstances, insurance, and declaration. In the information section there is not a lot of space
for each question, which further shows Vero being less interested in every detail of information.
However, Veros section that is most in depth is the important information section, which
displays their importance of stating rules. RenaissanceRe has the most sections: important
notices, general information, medical services, medical staff, records and risk management,
incidents and claims, insurance coverage requirements, additional information and declaration,
supplementary information, and addendum-public liability insurance. Their most emphasized
section with the most space is the information section illustrating their importance of knowing
the details. Hiscox has seven sections: instructions, your organization, medical malpractice,
home care, medical establishments, claims, and declaration. Hiscox has condensed instructions
and information section. Nevertheless, some sections in the information area have more space
than others. For example in section 2.5 Previous insurance history, they ask has any insurer
ever cancelled your medical malpractice/professional indemnity policy, declined/refused to
renew, or only accepted the risk at a special time? (Hiscox, 4) has the most space to fill out.
This can be because they want to be aware of possible past issues that occurred so they can
decide if this physician should be approved for their insurance coverage. This large amount of
space can also prove that Hiscox wants to give the physicians feeling of security by being able to
fill out as much as they can to explain any past incidences. The structure of these forms can be
related to highlighting in the sense that it displays what these firms care most about.

Lastly, authority and power plays a large role in influencing physicians to fill out these
proposal forms. In Materiality and Genre in the Study of Discourse Communities, Bawarshi
gives the example of a patients past medical history form. While the PMHS provides the doctor
with current health, past health, and insurance information, it also shows a different function of
genre. As we mentioned before genres organize the exchanges of language so these forms help
organize the communication between patients and doctors. This form also only asks physical
symptoms and nothing to do with mental health proving that mind and body are viewed as two
different entities and the doctors only concern is the physical aspects. Similar to the medical
intake forms, these forms don't address the obvious anxiety or other mental impacts of medical
malpractice on a doctor's ability to practice medicine possibly because the firms dont think it
will affect a physician from doing his job properly. If insurance companies thought that the
mental state of a physician can lead to being sued for medical malpractice then they would
include that in their proposal forms. Nevertheless, this form displays that the physician is the
authority because he decides what is written and how it is written. This is similar to malpractice
proposal forms in the sense that each firm emphasizes on different sections further displaying
who is really has/given authority. By Vero showing a great deal of credibility through the
introduction and rules, the one with authority is apparently the firms. RenaissanceRe emphasizes
on the information the physician fills out showing that in essence the physicians have authority.
Hiscox first section Which sections should you complete may seem to be giving the physician
the possibility to choose what to complete, but in reality, similar to Vero, they are giving rules to
abide by giving them the authority and not the physician.
The medical malpractice proposal forms are just one genre in the discourse community of
physicians. However, this genre doesnt only affect the discourse community of physicians.

Being sued for medical malpractice can poorly affect numerous people. This includes the doctor
himself (can lose his license), his nurses, secretary, his lawyer, his patients, the hospitals
reputation, his insurance, and the doctors family (emotionally and financially). Because of these
ramifications of being sued, receiving medical malpractice insurance is the utmost important to
physicians. Each physician then has the right to choose a firm that he believes will protect and
defend him the best. Each insurance proposal form has many firms representing a similar layout,
but all emphasize on a specific section and have many differences. While Vero is more
concerned with liability, RenaissanceRe and Hiscox are more concerned with reassuring the
doctors. Although they each have different approaches, each proposal form is designed to protect
the physician from being sued from medical malpractice.
Work Cited:
Devitt, Amy J. Bawarshi, Anis. Reiff, Mary Jo. Materiality and Genre in the Study of Discourse
Communities College English, Vol. 65, No. 5, Special Issue: Materiality, Genre, and Language
Use (May, 2003), pp. 541-558
Devitt, Amy J. "Generalizing About Genre: New Conceptions of an Old
Concept." College Composition and Communications, Vol. 44, No. 4.
December 1993. pp. 573-586.
LiteraryDevices Editors. Ethos LiteraryDevices.net. 2013. Web. 4 Nov.
2014.
Medical Malpractice Insurance Form Hiscox. pp 1-7

Medical Malpractice Insurance proposal form for healthcare establishments

and healthcare professionals Vero. pp 1-10
Medical Malpractice Liability Insurance Proposal Form RenaissanceRe
Syndicate 1458. pp 1-20
"Medical Malpractice." West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2.
2008. The Gale Group 30 Sep. 2015 http://legaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Medical+Malpractice