About Us
Profile
Physicians Reimbursement Fund, Inc., A Risk Retention Group (PRF) is not your conventional professional liability insurance provider. PRF provides its policyholders with the same coverage and security one would expect from a larger, more traditional carrier—but it does so with the personal touch. What sets PRF apart from other carriers is its committment to providing its policyholders with a personal, dependable, quality insurance product at the lowest possible premium.
PRF was founded years ago to provide needed, affordable professional liability coverage to physicians and allied health care professionals so they could continue to provide their patients with excellent healthcare. The Board of Directors, the members of the various committees, and the PRF staff believe in the Company, its values, and the ideal of providing an affordable insurance so the policyholders will have the financial security and flexibility to focus of the practice of medicine. PRF is owned entirely by its policyholders and exists to serve them, not outside investors or owners.
The risk of being sued for professional malpractice is one that all health care providers face. PRF works proactively with its Insureds to achieve the best possible patient outcome if medical complications occur. However, if all the best efforts are not successful and the end result is litigation, PRF is there for its Insureds with a host of prominent, expert attorneys, experienced medical consultants and knowledgeable staff to guide the physician through the legal process.
History of the Company
In the 1970s Californians were facing a health care crisis directly related to the frequency of medical injury claims and the soaring cost of malpractice jury awards paid by medical malpractice insurance companies. As early as 1972, insurance carriers were paying claims in excess of $150 for each $100 collected in premiums. Operating costs increased the loss/premium ratio to $180 paid out for each $100 of premiums collected.1 The result was a destabilized medical liability insurance market. On January 1, 1975, two major carriers notified Southern Californian physicians that their coverage would not be renewed. Northern California physicians faced premium increases up to 380%. To many California physicians, medical malpractice insurance coverage became either unavailable or cost prohibitive. Physicians were faced with the choices of 1) retire from practice; 2) move to a state where they could afford to pay the premiums; or 3) “go bare” and treat their patients without having the insurance coverage needed to protect themselves from potential losses due to claims.
Some San Francisco physicians practicing at California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) (formerly Children’s Hospital and Presbyterian Hospital) determined that none of these choices were acceptable to them or to their patients. They came up with a fourth choice—to start their own offshore captive insurance company. There were several advantages to the offshore captive, i.e., captives require less capitalization than traditional insurance companies, fewer regulatory constraints are placed on the business, and the captive could be established quickly to solve the immediate problem of patients’ access to health care.
In 1975, Physicians Reimbursement Fund, Ltd., (PRF, Ltd.) was organized to provide professional liability insurance coverage to 70 San Francisco physicians. The first premiums were written in May of 1976, and PRF, Ltd., was officially in business.
PRF's Founding Principles
The founding principles of PRF, Ltd., were to:
a) Eliminate the overhead expenses inherent in commercial insurance coverage;
b) Implement a philosophy in risk and claims management, which involved early identification and resolution of patient problems before they turn into lawsuits;
c) Retain for the owner-physicians the benefit of these efficiencies in the form of stable, below market insurance premiums, and;
d) Offer occurrence based coverage (not claims made) thereby allowing its Insureds an increased sense of security and freedom in terms of their individual choice of practice.
In its 35 years of successful operation, PRF has evolved to fill the changing needs of its Insureds. The limits of coverage have evolved from $150,000 per occurrence / $450,000 (1976-1978) aggregate per policy period to the current $1,000,000 per occurrence / $3,000,000 aggregate per policy period. The organizational structure of the Company has changed from an offshore captive to an onshore risk retention group domiciled in the State of Vermont. Through the years and the changes, PRF has remained loyal to its founding principles.
Directors and Officers
President, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer
George F. Lee, MD, has served as President and Chairman of the Boards of PRF RRG and its parent, Sphargis, and their predecessor companies since their formation in 1976. In addition, Dr. Lee is a member of the Board of Directors of the California Pacific Medical Center Foundation, Californians Allied for Patient Protection and the Community Health Resource Center. Prior to retirement Dr. Lee also served as Chair of the departments of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Pediatrics and was appointed Vice President for Medical Affairs at the California Pacific Medical Center.
Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer and Director
Damian H. Augustyn, MD, has served as Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and as a director of each of the Affiliated Companies since 2000. Dr. Augustyn is a practicing Gastroenterologist in San Francisco. He is a former Chief of the Medical Staff at California Pacific Medical Center and has also served as Director of the Gastrointestinal Laboratory. Dr. Augustyn has been active in the American Gastroenterological Association since 1987 and recently served that association as Treasurer and Secretary of its Board of Governors. Dr. Augustyn is a Partner in Pacific Internal Medicine Associates, a 10-physician San Francisco practice, and the former Managing Partner of that group.
Senior Vice President and Director
W. Gordon Peacock, MD, has served as Vice President and as a director of each of the Affiliated Companies since formation of each. In addition, Dr. Peacock who is now retired, was a physician in private practice in San Francisco for more than 30 years. He is a past member of the Executive Medical Board of the University of California, San Francisco, as well as a past president of the University of California Clinical Faculty Association and the San Francisco Gynecologic Society. Dr. Peacock is a past District Chair of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, District IX (California).
Secretary and Director
Stephen J. Scheifele, MS, MD, has served as a director of each of the Affiliated Companies since 2000. An Obstetrician/Gynecologist, Dr. Scheifele has been in private practice at California Pacific Medical Center and Seton Medical Center since 1980. Dr. Scheifele served on the Seton Medical Center Board of Directors from 1994 through 1996, was Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology from 1995 through 2000 and Chief of Staff from 2002-2004. He also served on the Board of Directors of Catholic Healthcare West, Bay Area Region, from 1996 through 2001. Dr Scheifele was appointed a Commissioner on the San Mateo Health Commission and the San Mateo Community Health Authority from 1997 through 2012.
Vice President in Charge of Marketing and Director
Michael E. Abel, MD, has served as a director of PRF-RRG and two of its affiliates since 1998. In addition, Dr. Abel served as President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Brown & Toland Medical Group from 1993 through 2000. Dr. Abel has been in private practice in San Francisco since 1985 and served on multiple committees with the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons and California Pacific Medical Center. Dr. Abel has been active in the San Francisco Medical Society and was a member of the Board of Directors from 1992 through 1994.
Director
David R. Minor, MD, joined the PRF-RRG Board of Directors as a member-at-large in 2009. Dr. Minor also serves as Vice-Chair of PRF-RRG’s Finance Committee. Since finishing his Oncology fellowship at Yale, Dr. Minor has been in private practice at California Pacific Medical Center for 31 years. He has been trustee of his corporate pension plan for 25 years, and is Director of Inpatient Oncology at CPMC since 1997. In the past he was president of the Kentfield Schools foundation, the San Francisco unit of the American Cancer Society, and the California Kidney Cancer Foundation. Currently very active in melanoma research, he is associate director of the California Pacific Center for Melanoma Research and Treatment.
Director
Katherine L. Gregory, MD, joined the PRF-RRG Board of Directors in 2011. Dr. Gregory also serves as Vice Chair of the Education and Risk Management Committee and has been a PRF member since 1997. Dr. Gregory completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School in 1994, after which she earned a Masters in Public Health, Quantitative Methods from the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Gregory serves on several Quality Improvement Committees at California Pacific Medical Center. She has also been active with the American College of Obsetricians and Gynecologists. Dr. Gregory practiced Obstetrics and Gynecology in San Francisco from 1995 to 2007 and now is focused in gynecology in her private practice, San Francisco Gynecology, Inc.
Vermont Director
Andrew Sargeant, ACA, CFA, is president of USA Risk Group of Vermont, Inc. (USAVT), the company that serves as the insurance manager for PRF -RRG. As USAVT's president, Andy is responsible for the USA Risk Group's daily operations. He also oversees the company’s operations in South Carolina, Bermuda, and the British Virgin Islands. Andy joined USA Risk Group in 1995, as vice president of USAVT (then known as Vermont Insurance Management, Inc.). He became President of USAVT in 1996. Andy was admitted as an associate of the Chartered Accountants of England and Wales in 1979 and received the Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1993.
Staff Members
Executive Director
June Riley, MBA, has served as the Executive Director of PRFRRG since 2000. Ms. Riley has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. She earned her Master of Business Administration from Golden Gate University in 2003. Ms. Riley is currently working toward her Doctorate in Business Administration. She has also completed several courses with the International Center for Captive Insurance Education (ICCIE).
Director of Membership
Soad Kader began working with PRF in 1998. In 2001, Ms. Kader was promoted to Director of Membership. Ms. Kader earned her Bachelor of Arts from University of California, Davis. She worked in International Training and Development at UC Davis before moving to San Francisco in 1997. She is fluent in Spanish and taught private classes in English as a second language while living in Spain. Ms. Kader is a professional artist and participates each year in San Francisco’s Open Studios.
Claims Administrator
Sandy Souza began working with PRF in 2007 as the Claims Administrator. Ms. Souza ran her own business as an artist’s representative in the Los Angeles area. She was also active in the National Speakers Association from 1992 through 1998. Ms. Souza has used her marketing background as a fundraiser for several non-profit organizations. In addition, she is a published author. Ms. Souza recently became a certified paralegal after successfully completing the paralegal program at the University of San Francisco.
1 Keene, Barry Assemblyman. History of the Creation of MICRA. CAPP. Summary of an article published in 1975 by the National Conference of State Legislators and Georgetown University’s Health Policy Center as part of a report entitled “A Legislator’s Guide to the Medical Malpractice Issue.”