Quote:
Originally Posted by lurker  I guess I'm looking for something akin to checking Doctors like banks check credit rating .... |
Nope, not there. There is a national practioner database that hospitals and other providers use to gather selected reported background information such as license suspensions/malpractice suits etc but I don't beleive the average "Joe" has access to it. Besides it has its flaws too. One reporting item is being removed from a medical staff but if a doctor resigns from a medical staff in lieu of being removed from the medical staff then his/her quality issues do not get reported. CMS is planning on implementing some public quality reporting data but they are a long way away from it.
If the physician is applying for privledges to treat patients at Western Plains, the medical staff bylaws require among other things-Board Certification or Board Eligibility for physicians who applied for practice after 2002. Board Certifications are specific to the practice specialty and are indepth examinations on that specialty. The hospital not only checks the practioner database, it also collects references and verifies all education/licensure/past history, etc before it can present the physician to the medical staff and offer an appointment. Which By the way, it is the physicians on the medical staff and not the hospital who say a physician is competent to practice there. And FWIW, they were self insured for malpractice and the quality practices of the medical staff got a much sharper eye after that happened.
Is it a foolproof system? By all means no but it is designed so that someone doesn't show up with a degree from Bangladesh University and start cutting on patients. Personally, unless the guy has retired since the first of '03, the doctor in Dodge that kept me up at night is as "American" as they come.
There are ways to get info on a doctor but it can be tough. One of the first things I do when I get a Doctor CV is to type the name in the Google search bar, you never know what might show up and I (and others) have cut off discussions with physicians on the basis of that alone.
If you have specific questions email me.