The role of the medical director in the risk assessment process.

M directors’ activities support the life insurance industry’s continued ability to rely on the risk assessment process. Activities that support risk classification from a legal perspective and provide an insurer a defense to lawsuits before they reach the trial stage also promote the professional development of medical directors. Providing information that helps meet the demand for fair, nondiscriminatory underwriting for consumers, proposed insurers, applicants, regulatory agencies, and public advocacy groups are also integral to the support of the risk assessment process. Metrics that assess the professionalism of medical directors can be derived from expert witness criteria. These are criteria that all courts use to admit someone as an expert witness. Courts view an expert witness through two components: the methodology used by the expert and the actual expertise of the individual. US Federal Courts use the same basic criteria to determine if someone is an expert witness. Most of these criteria are directed towards the methodology used and not necessarily the individual expert. The mnemonic, TRAP, summarizes the criteria a judge uses to determine whether a witness qualifies as an expert: