Web discipline postings worry California physicians

Doctors clash with consumer advocates over charges and disciplinary actions on the state medical board's Web site.

By Andis Robeznieks, AMNews staff. Feb. 11, 2002.

According to officials with the California Medical Assn., all they're looking for is a little perspective.

If the physician profiles on the Medical Board of California's Web site had more things in common with those on the site of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine, CMA officials say they would have fewer things to argue about.

"We think the standards that are being used [in California] could be improved so the public could have more information that's put into a better context," said CMA spokesman Peter Warren. The medical board's Web site lets consumers know how many malpractice judgments physicians have against them, but Warren argues that listing this number without explanation may do more harm than good.

"You could have a physician who is a superb obstetrician and, because they are so good, they will get the most difficult cases," he said. "As a result, they may have less-than-ideal outcomes, but that doesn't make the physician less able."

The CMA would like to have the number of judgments put into context by following the Massachusetts practice of adding comparison data. If, for example, an obstetrician has been in practice for 10 years, the CMA wants the profile to include information saying the average obstetrician who has been in practice for 10 years has X amount of judgments against them, averaging X amount of dollars.

"Then you could see if three judgments in 10 years is a lot or a little," Warren said. "The number three by itself doesn't mean anything." [...]