Do Social Workers Need Malpractice Insurance?

Do Social Workers Need Malpractice Insurance? 

Insurance is a very practical issue. Now, some of you are independent or private practitioners, I imagine and no doubt you have your own malpractice insurance. Many of you I suspect, work for mental health agencies, substance use disorder agencies, hospitals, schools, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, and you may know with good reason that your agency has a good malpractice policy that includes coverage for you in the event of a lawsuit.

Now the statistical likelihood of a lawsuit involving your use of technology, is not great, right? But it's not zero and as I've said several times, I've been involved in many, many cases, court cases, licensing board cases where the issue had to do with whether a social worker was using technology properly to deliver services, to manage, store and locate information, to communicate with clients.

Some of these turned into malpractice lawsuits. Well, there is a pretty good chance that your employer's malpractice policy will provide you with coverage. However, in my opinion, based on years of experience, I believe every social worker, regardless of employer's malpractice coverage should have their own malpractice policy, particularly in this digital age. 

This Ask the Expert is an edited excerpt from the webinar, Social Work in the Digital Age: Ethics and Risk Management Challenges, presented by Frederic G. Reamer, PhD.