Board’s vote increases access to doctor records
A recent news story about the North Carolina Medical Board’s vote to post medical malpractice payments greater than $25,000 seemed to indicate that this represents a “cutback” of the information the board provides to the public.
To the contrary, the board’s vote paves the way for a vast increase in public information. At present, patients have no reliable way to know if medical providers have made malpractice payments. When the board’s expanded practitioner profiles go live, North Carolinians will have access to about 90 percent of all such payments — even with the $25,000 threshold. The board’s vote amended an earlier proposal to post all payments.
The board’s existing physician profiles, available at www.ncmedboard.org, already publish licensees’ full disciplinary histories in North Carolina. Adding malpractice information will make the board’s profiles among the nation’s most comprehensive, even with a $25,000 threshold for malpractice payments. Many boards that post such data report only physicians with multiple payments, and some limit disclosure to payments exceeding $100,000. The North Carolina Medical Board chose not to take this approach, in the face of considerable pressure from its licensees and others.
R. David Henderson
Raleigh
The writer is executive director, North Carolina Medical Board.
Comments (1)
To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.
"When the board’s expanded practitioner profiles go live, North Carolinians will have access to about 90 percent of all such payments — even with the $25,000 threshold."
What I just learned is that the large majority of Docs who mess up either mess up big or mess up a lot.
That's gonna be reassuring next time I go in for a surgery.....
Posted on July 29, 2008 3:19 AM