Back in February 2010, we told you a story that we thought “only a true cynic could appreciate.” Here’s the gist. When Illinois lawmakers passed their clearly unconstitutional “cap” on compensation for medical malpractice victims a few years ago, they also happened to enact one of the best med mal insurance regulatory laws in the country, including strong oversight over rates and new transparency requirements. Except that they added a “non-severability” clause to the law, so that if the cap were struck down (virtually certain as the Illinois Supreme Court had previously struck down two similar “caps”), all of those great medical malpractice insurance regulatory laws would be thrown out the window, leaving Illinois medical malpractice insurers virtually free to once again charge doctors excessive rates.
What we forgot to tell you, however, was that another critical part of the law was also thrown out because of this “non-severability” clause: a online database of physician profiles, so patients can learn at least something about the physician in whose hands they place their lives.
Well, we are happy to report that Illinois lawmakers have reinstituted this database! Good for them. The Chicago Tribune, which has done fantastic a great job reporting on dangerous doctors (see our coverage here), reports:
The database can be accessed through the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation's website at idfpr.com under the "physician profile" link on the left side. There, patients can learn about a doctor's educational background and training, determine what type of insurance they accept and find out what languages are spoken in the office.
Also included is information about criminal convictions, disciplinary action against the doctor by regulators in Illinois and other states, and whether hospital privileges have been revoked.
Go here to find out about your Illinois doctor. Now, how about that insurance reform?
It is good that patients have access to disciplinary action although they need to take caution in how they view the data. Many view fines by the Boards of Medicine as a revenue generator when often the physician infraction was very small. Regarding medical malpractice insurance claims, keep in mind 85% of claims get dismissed or thrown out with no indemnity payment. So, 8 out of 10 times the doctor is not at fault. Like I said it is good that patients get access to info to help make sure their doctor hasn't had any egregious penalties but it needs to be understood that the data doesn't always tell the entire picture. (see http://www.equotemd.com/blog )
Razia
Posted by: Razia Gupta | October 20, 2011 at 11:11 AM