§ 5-37-9.2 - Physician profiles – Public access to data.
SECTION 5-37-9.2
§ 5-37-9.2 Physician profiles –Public access to data. – (a) The board shall compile the information listed in this section to createindividual profiles on licensed physicians, in a format created by the board,consistent with the provisions of this section and § 23-1-1.4 and anyregulations promulgated under these sections, that are available fordissemination to the public and which include a conspicuous statement that"This profile contains certain information which may be used as a startingpoint in evaluating the physician. This profile should not be your sole basisfor selecting a physician".
(2) The following information shall be compiled by the boardin accordance with state laws and board regulations and procedures and shall beincluded in physician profiles, subject to the limitations and requirements setforth below:
(i) Names of medical schools and dates of graduation;
(ii) Graduate medical education;
(iii) A description of any final board disciplinary actionswithin the most recent ten (10) years;
(iv) A description of any final disciplinary actions bylicensing boards in other states within the most recent ten (10) years;
(v) A description of any criminal convictions for felonieswithin the most recent ten (10) years. For the purposes of this subsection, aperson is deemed to be convicted of a crime if he or she pleaded guilty or ifhe or she was found or adjudged guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction, orwas convicted of a felony by the entry of a plea of nolo contendere.
(vi) A description of revocation or restriction of hospitalprivileges for reasons related to competence taken by the hospital's governingbody or any other official of the hospital after procedural due process hasbeen afforded, or the resignation from or nonrenewal of medical staffmembership or the restriction of privileges at a hospital. Only cases, whichhave occurred within the most recent ten (10) years, shall be disclosed by theboard to the public.
(vii) All medical malpractice court judgments and all medicalmalpractice arbitration awards in which a payment is awarded to a complainingparty since September 1, 1988, or during the most recent ten (10) years, andall settlements of medical malpractice claims in which a payment is made to acomplaining party since September 1, 1988, or within the most recent ten (10)years. Dispositions of paid claims shall be reported in a minimum of three (3)graduated categories indicating the level of significance of the award orsettlement. Information concerning paid medical malpractice claims shall be putin context by comparing an individual physician's medical malpracticejudgments, awards and settlements to the experience of other physicianslicensed in Rhode Island who perform procedures and treat patients with asimilar degree of risk. All judgment, award, and settlement informationreported shall be limited to amounts actually paid by or on behalf of thephysician.
(3) Comparisons of malpractice payment data shall beaccompanied by:
(i) An explanation of the fact that physicians treatingcertain patients and performing certain procedures are more likely to be thesubject of litigation than others and that the comparison given is forphysicians who perform procedures and treat patients with a similar degree ofrisk;
(ii) A statement that the report reflects data sinceSeptember 1, 1988, or for the last ten (10) years and the recipient should takeinto account the number of years the physician has been in practice whenconsidering the data;
(iii) An explanation that an incident, giving rise to amalpractice claim, may have occurred years before any payment was made due tothe time lawsuits take to move through the legal system;
(iv) An explanation of the effect of treating high-riskpatients on a physician's malpractice history; and
(v) An explanation that malpractice cases may be settled forreasons other than liability and that settlements are sometimes made by theinsurer without the physician's consent.
(4) Information concerning all settlements shall beaccompanied by the following statement: "Settlement of a claim may occur for avariety of reasons which do not necessarily reflect negatively on theprofessional competence or conduct of the physician. A payment in settlement ofa medical malpractice action or claim should not be construed as creating apresumption that medical malpractice has occurred." Nothing in this sectionshall be construed to limit or prevent the board from providing furtherexplanatory information regarding the significance of categories in whichsettlements are reported.
(5) Pending malpractice claims and actual amounts paid by oron behalf of a physician in connection with a malpractice judgment, award, orsettlement shall not be disclosed by the board to the public. Nothing in thissection shall be construed to prevent the board from investigating anddisciplining a licensee on the basis of medical malpractice claims that arepending.
(6) The following information shall be reported to the boardby the physician and shall be included in physician profiles, subject to thelimitations and requirements specified in this subdivision:
(i) Specialty board certification;
(ii) Number of years in practice;
(iii) Names of the hospitals where the physician hasprivileges;
(iv) Appointments to medical school faculties and indicationas to whether a physician has a responsibility for graduate medical educationwithin the most recent ten (10) years;
(v) Information regarding publications in peer-reviewedmedical literature within the most recent ten (10) years;
(vi) Information regarding professional or community serviceactivities and awards;
(vii) The location of the physician's primary practicesetting;
(viii) The identification of any language translatingservices that may be available at the physician's primary practice location;provided, that a statement is included in the profile indicating that theseservices may be temporary and that the physician's office should first becontacted to confirm the present availability of language translation.
(b) A physician may elect to have his or her profile omitcertain information provided pursuant to paragraphs (a)(6)(iv) – (vi) ofthis section, concerning academic appointments and teaching responsibilities,publication in peer-reviewed journals, and professional and community serviceawards. In collecting information for these profiles and disseminating it, theboard shall inform physicians that they may choose not to provide anyinformation required pursuant to paragraphs (a)(6)(iv) – (vi) of thissection.
(c) The board shall provide individual physicians with a copyof their profiles prior to initial release to the public and each time aphysician's profile is modified or amended based on information not personallysupplied to the board by the physician or not generated by the board itself.
(2) Prior to initial release to the public and upon eachmodification or amendment requiring physician review as provided in thissubsection, a physician shall be provided not less than twenty-one (21)calendar days to correct factual inaccuracies that appear in his or her profile.
(3) If a dispute arises between a physician and the boardregarding the accuracy of factual information in the physician's profile, thephysician shall notify the board, in writing, of this dispute.
(4) If a physician does not notify the board of a disputeduring the twenty-one (21) day review period, the profile shall be released tothe public and the physician will be deemed to have approved the profile andall information contained in the profile.
(5) If a physician notifies the board of a dispute inaccordance with this subsection, the physician's profile shall be released tothe public without the disputed information, but with a statement to the effectthat information in the identified category is currently the subject of adispute and is not available at this time.
(6) Within ten (10) calendar days after the board's receiptof notice of a dispute, the physician and the board or its authorizedrepresentative shall in good faith enter into discussions, which may continuefor up to thirty (30) days, to resolve the dispute. If the dispute is notresolved within thirty (30) days, the disputed information shall be included inthe profile with a statement that this information is disputed by the physician.
(d) Each profile shall contain a statement specifying thedate of its last modification, amendment, or update. If a physician hasreviewed and approved or been deemed to have approved his or her profile inaccordance with this subsection, the physician is responsible for the accuracyof the information contained in it. If a profile is released to the publicwithout physician review as required by this subsection, then notwithstandingany immunity from liability granted by § 5-37-1.5 or 23-1-32, the board orany state agency supplying physician information to the board is solelyresponsible for the accuracy of the information it generates or supplies andwhich is contained in physician profiles released to the public.
(e) In order to protect against the unauthorized use ordisclosure of provider profiles by department of health employees with accessto the data, the department of health shall apply its existing safeguards andprocedures for protecting confidential information to physician profileinformation.
(f) For each profile provided to the public by the board, theboard may charge no more than fifty cents ($.50) per page or three dollars($3.00) per profile, whichever is greater.