In the mid-1970s, physicians nationwide faced an insurance crisis that threatened their very livelihood. With claims and judgments escalating dramatically, many commercial insurance companies ceased to offer medical malpractice insurance coverage. The practice of medicine was under attack. Something had to be done.
Rising to the challenge in 1975, a group of Tennessee physicians formed one of the first organizations in the nation created by physicians to insure their own medical liability risk. To raise the initial capital, each physician who applied for insurance made a one-time contribution.
In May 1976, SVMIC was licensed by the state of Tennessee and wrote its first policy. By the end of 1977, the company insured 3,840 Tennessee physicians. A year later, SVMIC began operating at a surplus. Collecting capital contributions from new member physicians was no longer required, and between 1979 and 1981, all the initial contributions were returned to those physicians.
By the end of 1982, SVMIC was insuring 6,528 Tennessee physicians and paid its first dividend to policyholders. The company also began conducting seminars for physicians as part of its ongoing commitment to identify and correct the root causes of medical malpractice.
In 1989, SVMIC began insuring physicians in Arkansas and was warmly welcomed after the state’s most dominant commercial carrier announced an enormous rate increase. Virginia was added in 1991, and Kentucky in 1996. In addition, SVMIC also added practice management services in 1996 to serve as a problem-solving resource for physicians and their practices.
In 2001, one of the largest malpractice insurance providers in Arkansas and a major player in other states, pulled out of the market. Shortly thereafter, several other medical liability carriers went into receivership. The situation forced many physicians in the Southeast to look for another insurance provider, and once again, SVMIC answered the call for help. In 2018, SVMIC launched the Mutual Value Plan to its members. The loyalty programs serves as one of the ways that SVMIC is able to reward its members and have them share in the long-term success. SVMIC also began to expand regionally from the core 3 states of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Arkansas into Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and other states.
In 2019, SVMIC began a concerted effort to incorporate policyholder feedback into business practices with the launch of the SVMIC Forum, a group of physicians who provide intensive feedback to SVMIC via an online platform. This was expanded later to include SVMIC’s Net Promoter Score tracking to ensure that high customer satisfaction remains the standard. Today, SVMIC has multiple ways of involving members in providing input, including the SVMIC Forum, the SVMIC Panel, Net Promoter Score, and custom market research projects. Member input has driven many of SVMIC’s innovative new practices including the Compliance Center, improved and expanded education courses, specific training opportunities, and much more.
Today, 50 years later, SVMIC insures over 24,000 physicians and advanced practice providers in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Proud to be one of the largest and most successful insurance ventures of its kind, with an incredibly strong financial position, SVMIC employs over 140 professionals experienced in finance, law, claims, risk management, insurance, accounting, underwriting, nursing, marketing, information technology, and practice management who are dedicated to a single objective — serving physicians.
