USA TODAY analyzed records from the National Practitioner Data Bank, malpractice payments and disciplinary actions imposed by hospitals, HMOs and other healthcare institutions that oversee physicians. Its findings paint a “grim picture of a physician oversight system,” as thousands of physicians allegedly involved in serious misconduct continue to see patients without intervention from state medical boards.
From 2001 to 2011, nearly 6,000 physicians had their clinical privileges restricted or revoked from hospitals and other medical institutions for misconduct involving patient care, according to the report. Of those physicians, more than 3,000 were never penalized by state medical boards.
USA TODAY found even the most severe misconduct went unpunished. Nearly 250 of the 6,000 physicians sanctioned by healthcare institutions were cited as immediate threats to health and safety, but they retained their medical licenses.
By law, reports must be filed with the NPDB when any of the nation’s 878,000 licensed physicians face “adverse actions.” Those reports are intended to be monitored closely by medical boards, according to the report.
However, medical boards often have tight budgets and too few staff members, which can make exhaustive investigations and legal preparations challenging, according to the report. State medical boards also vary in terms of resources and reporting processes. Some boards query the NPDB regularly, whereas others do not, making the physician discipline process more robust in some states than others.
In California, for instance, there are no established requirements for checking the NPDB. It is not queried routinely, and officials check physicians’ records on an as-needed basis. Florida, on the other hand, spends more than $200,000 a year to have the NPDB continuously monitor the licenses of all of its physicians. The board is alerted automatically when malpractice cases, hospital privilege actions and other problems are reported.
More Articles on Physician Discipline:
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Study Finds Hospitals Fail to Report Physician Discipline
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