Community Corner

Database with Doctors' Professional, Disciplinary Information is Back Online

The new state law, the Patients' Right to Know Act, restores making the information, such as educational background and malpractice suits, public.

If you are looking for a new doctor or chiropractor or want to check up on your current health care provider, a public database is back online, thanks to a new state law.

The Physician Profile is available on the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation's website, and allows patients to see whether a physician or chiropractor has been disciplined here or in another state. The available information includes whether the physician has been fired, convicted of a crime or has made a medical malpractice payment in the last five years. The searchable database includes about 46,000 doctors and 4,500 chiropractors.

"Information is power, and we want to make sure that people get the information they need to make informed decisions about the doctors who treat them," Gov. Pat Quinn said in a statement. "This online tool will provide valuable assistance for patients as they choose health care providers for their families."

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A news report by The Associated Press says that the database was taken offline last year when the Illinois Supreme Court struck down a medical malpractice reform law as unconstitutional. The new law, the Patients' Right to Know Act (House Bill 105) signed by Quinn in August, reinstated the database and gave doctors 60 days to review the information before the site went live. That review period has passed, allowing the site's return, according to the news report.

The website allows health care consumers to review important information about the professional and disciplinary backgrounds of the more than 46,000 physicians and surgeons licensed to practice in Illinois. It offers a search engine that is easy to use, and enables consumers to search by the physician's name, specialty, geographic region or hospital affiliation. The program also allows consumers to compare several doctors who have similar specialties.

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More than 85 percent of all licensed physicians and surgeons have provided the information necessary to create or update their profiles. Categories of information available to consumers include the location and scope of practice, the type of insurance the physician accepts, specialties and certifications, legal and disciplinary actions taken against the physician, educational background and professional activities or honors.

The site also shows where a doctor went to school, whether he or she is taking new Medicare and Medicaid patients, and includes board certifications and number of years in practice.

Before it went dark in 2010, the website drew more than 150,000 hits per week by more than 42,000 unique visitors.

"It is clear that Illinoisans are craving this information and they should," said Brent Adams, Secretary of Financial and Professional Regulation, in a statement. "Everyone is entitled to providing informed consent to medical treatment—not just being informed as to the procedure or medication, but also being informed as to who is recommending that course of treatment."

Some attorneys said they were glad the site is back, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek.com.

"I think it's great," Chicago lawyer Jerry Latherow, president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, told BusinessWeek.com. "In this age of transparency, it only seems right that this information be available to patients. There's nothing more personal than our medical care. This gives patients the right to know about the background of their doctors so they can decide what the best physician is for them."

"The Patients' Right to Know Act will help to ensure that consumers are choosing the right physician for their needs," said Illinois Sen. William Delgado (D-Chicago), chairman of the Senate Public Health Committee and sponsor of the bill in the Senate. "The database created under this act will enable anyone to search by a doctor's partial first or last name, city, specialty, keyword or hospital affiliation. Patients will be able to find out ahead of time if the physician has any the specialty certifications or legal and disciplinary actions for the past 5 years in addition to being able to see their resumes."

To find a physician's profile, visit the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation's website or visit DoctorInfo.illinois.gov.


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