MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN

The year was 1986. Commercial liability insurance carriers were fleeing the market, and ophthalmologists were paying exorbitant premiums for malpractice insurance—if they could buy it at all. Bruce E. Spivey, MD, Executive Vice President of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, was approached by Academy Board of Trustees Chairman Reginald J. Stambaugh, MD, who advanced the idea that the Academy create its own insurance company for members. A steering committee was formed to determine the viability of this idea. Led by Academy Insurance Committee Chairman John T. Flaxel, MD, the steering committee unanimously supported the idea and convinced the Board to take a calculated financial risk and form an insurance company specifically for ophthalmologists. With $3 million in surplus contributions collected from nearly 800 Academy member-insureds, OMIC opened for business on October 1, 1987, with Dr. Stambaugh as its first Chairman.

Over the next five years, OMIC tripled its assets and increased investment income fivefold. Dr. Flaxel took over the helm as Chairman in 1994, but it was anything but smooth sailing. The commercial carriers that had fled the market in the 1980s returned in the 1990s to “buy back” insureds at any cost by offering grossly inadequate premiums in order to drive out physician-owned carriers such as OMIC. In spite of this challenge, OMIC’s Board pledged to maintain adequate rates that would be affordable but not necessarily the lowest. OMIC grew steadily to over 2,000 insureds by year 2000 with $66 million in assets and $21 million in policyholders’ surplus.

In 2001, the predatory, unsustainable business practices of these large carriers resulted in one of the worst malpractice insurance crises in the nation’s history. Many carriers doubled or tripled premiums, or simply stopped insuring physicians altogether. The St. Paul Company, the largest physician insurer at the time, withdrew from the market, leaving 40,000 physicians, including hundreds of ophthalmologists, without coverage. Sound fiscal practices had positioned OMIC to withstand the crisis; under the leadership of Chairmen Arthur W. Allen Jr., MD, and Joe R. McFarlane Jr., MD, JD, OMIC added 1,600 new policyholders and doubled assets to $147 million and surplus to $43 million over the next five years.

Throughout the last decade, OMIC’s average indemnity payment has consistently been lower than multispecialty carriers’ average ophthalmic indemnity by nearly 40%. Underwriting Committee and Board Chair Richard L. Abbott, MD, was instrumental in developing risk management and patient safety initiatives for corneal and refractive surgery, oculoplastics, and ROP based on best practices identified from OMIC’s own closed claims. This information has given OMIC and its insureds a clear advantage in claims prevention and management.

Today, OMIC is among the strongest of physician-owned carriers with admitted assets of $232 million, surplus of $140 million, and an overall A (Excellent) rating from A.M. Best. Our web site, www.omic.com, is the go-to resource for ophthalmic informed consent documents worldwide. OMIC’s confidential risk management hotline responds to over 1,000 calls annually, and attendance at OMIC risk management events has surpassed 30,000 since the program’s inception.

OMIC’s story is really about our policyholders, from the 800 risk takers who helped fund this start-up company in 1987 to the nearly 4,500 insureds who support OMIC in 2012. It is to you that I extend my heartfelt appreciation for making OMIC what it is today.

John W. Shore, MD

OMIC Chairman

Message from the Chair/CEO

John Shore, MD 

This summer I was flying on Southwest Airlines and picked up the June issue of Spirit, the magazine published by the carrier. It contained several articles celebrating the airline’s 40th anniversary. The lead article, “40 Lessons to Learn from Southwest,” intrigued me. Each lesson was a vignette on an aspect of the company that senior management felt was important to its success. As I was reading, I realized that several lessons could be applied to OMIC’s success.

 Target the overcharged and underserved. OMIC helped lower malpractice premiums in many states where ophthalmologists were subsidizing higher risk specialties.
The Web ain’t cool, it’s a tool. OMIC was an early adapter of web technology as a vehicle to disseminate risk management documents to a nationwide audience of policyholders. Every year, thousands of risk management documents are accessed through OMIC.com.

See your business as a cause. Not only does OMIC provide liability insurance, it partners with the American Academy of Ophthalmology and other ophthalmic organizations to improve quality of care for ROP, LASIK, and other eye care services ophthalmologists provide.

Beware of imitators but take them as a compliment. Many other insurance carriers have adopted OMIC’s underwriting guidelines and use our risk management information for their insured ophthalmologists.

In 2012, OMIC will celebrate its 25th year of providing professional liability insurance for members of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and risk management education for ophthalmologists worldwide. OMIC has enjoyed phenomenal growth and success during its 25-year history that parallels Southwest Airlines in certain respects.

Of course, OMIC doesn’t compare in size and capitalization to Southwest Airlines, yet there are similarities worth mentioning. Both companies were started in response to unfavorable market forces and a desire to provide an alternative to existing providers in their industry. Both companies struggled in the beginning to overcome tremendous roadblocks to success. Both companies stuck to their core principles and goals and grew the company from within under the direction of dedicated leaders and the support of loyal employees. Both companies had strong, intuitive, and tenacious executive leadership. In the case of Southwest, it was Herb Kelleher and Rollin King who directed its early growth and established its corporate branding. In OMIC’s case, Bruce Spivey, MD, and Reggie Stambaugh, MD, were the glue that held the company together through the early years. They established the corporate structure that would blend the company’s board of directors and staff into a successful team.

Southwest Airlines and OMIC have earned the respect and loyalty of a growing customer base and, as a result, both companies have cornered substantial market share within their respective industries. With growth and success comes the responsibility of living up to one’s reputation. And this, I believe, is another goal both companies share.

Finally, Please view my good friend and colleague, Tamara Fountain in this new video by the Academy. A true star indeed!

 John W. Shore, MD Chairman of the Board