Colorado center teaches doctors to be better doctors

Since April 2000, the Institute for Physician Evaluation has served as a place where physicians come to learn how to do the right thing.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. March 19, 2001.

In December 1999, Lance Yeoman, DO, was ordered to stop performing surgeries.

The Iowa Board of Medical Examiners charged the general surgeon in Osage, Iowa, with incompetence for failing to provide adequate care to at least five patients, causing some injuries. In a settlement with the board, Dr. Yeoman agreed to participate in the assessment program offered by the Institute for Physician Evaluation in Colorado.

For two days last May, surgeons scrutinized his skills at the institute's suburban Denver location. Dr. Yeoman then took on an individualized education plan, and his license was reinstated in November 2000.

Dr. Yeoman, who now lives and practices in Wisconsin, where he also has a license, said the center helped get his practice back on track. "It was a very positive experience. We can always learn in our profession."

Since the institute opened in April 2000, it has assessed the medical skills of Dr. Yeoman and 40 other physicians and helped them become better doctors. Most come to the center because someone has questioned their competence. A hospital peer review committee, licensing board or other group may refer a physician because of concerns about substandard care. Or they may send doctors following patient complaints and suspension of licenses.

To a lesser extent, some doctors are recommended to the center because they got hooked on drugs or made sexual advances toward patients.

"There are doctors out there who are practicing less than good medicine," said Martha Illige, MD, medical director of the nonprofit Colorado Personalized Education for Physicians program, where the institute is housed. [...]