As insurance brokers, we all strive to be – in our client’s eyes – trusted advisers and learned intermediaries. In its current use from a 1966 Eighth Circuit Court decision, the “learned intermediary doctrine” holds that prescription drug and medical device manufacturers discharge their duty of care to patients by providing warnings to prescribing physicians. In this way, they bypass the obligation to warn the ultimate users of their products – i.e., patients.
While not an exact analogy, the notion of a learned intermediary in the medical/clinical realm is a useful guide for re-framing our purpose as brokers performing a value-added role between insurance companies (Manufacturers) and our clients (Patients). As insurance brokers, we fill — in a non-medical realm — the role of learned intermediary.
Borrowing from the language of the court’s decision, prescription drugs (insurance policies) are often complex medicines (contracts), esoteric in formula and varied in effect (different coverages and exclusions).
As a medical professional (insurance expert), prescribing physicians factor in a drug’s (insurance policy) propensities, indicators and side-effects, as well as the susceptibilities of their patients (the client’s risk profile and tolerance).
Like doctors, insurance brokers must weigh the benefits of any medication (insurance policy) against its potential dangers. The choice made must be an informed one, an individualized medical judgment (risk management advice) rooted in the knowledge of both the patient (client) and palliative (the risk management/insurance program).
“Useful Idiot” is a political term which was once used in reference to Soviet sympathizers in Western countries, especially the US, and the presumed stance of the Soviet government towards them. The implication was that the person in question was naive, foolish, or in denial and was being cynically used by the Soviet Union, or another Communist state.
Some now more broadly use the term to describe someone who is perceived to be manipulated by a political movement or hostile government.
In the context of insurance broking, the term may be a bit of hyperbole, but its use makes a useful point. The implication is that a useful idiot is ignorant of the facts and thereby ends up unwittingly advancing an adverse cause.
For insurance brokers, we may consider our roles as learned Intermediaries akin to a “patient-centric” approach, where the useful idiot may be seen as analogous to an obeisant sales force and simply “water carriers” for insurance companies.
Whenever we elevate an insurance company’s interests above that of our clients, we are unwittingly becoming useful idiots.
Whenever we “sell” without listening to the client’s needs, we are useful idiots.
Whenever we fail to add value through risk management advice, neglecting an opportunity to promote greater client understanding of the risk management process, we have relegated ourselves to useful idiot status.
As insurance brokers, our professional mantra as learned intermediaries should be “Goals & Roles,” i.e., our job is to support the Goals of our client companies, and the roles of our client contacts at every level.
When we deviate from this advisory role, we “self-relegate” our professional responsibility to that of a useful idiot.
Let’s invite our clients to hold our feet to the fire so that we are worthy of the roles of trusted adviser and learned intermediary!
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