Investigation, Discipline for Physicians Needs Improvement, Editorial Says
The recent Washington Post series examining physician discipline "demonstrates that the methods used to investigate and discipline incompetent doctors are deeply flawed," a Post editorial states. According to the Post, there are "big variations in the operations of state medical boards," with those in Kentucky, Wyoming and North Dakota investigating and disciplining more than 10 out of 1,000 doctors, compared with three out of 1,000 for the boards in the District of Columbia and Maryland. Boards that fail to provide adequate oversight lack funding, are less independent from local doctors' organizations and experience other problems, the editorial says. According to the editorial, physicians and health insurers must "re-examine their legal structure and financing" and consider "naming more board members who are not doctors, funding more investigators and ensuring that they and their consumers have greater access to Internet information." The editorial adds, "Above all, states should make records of malpractice settlements and patient complaints available to other patients and insurance companies," concluding, "No one should die because a medical board is negligent" (Washington Post, 4/14).
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