Statement
By Kenneth J. Printen, M.D.
President, Illinois State Medical Society
December 2, 2004
Re: physician profiling legislation
The Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS) strongly believes consumers should have access to relevant information to help them make educated choices about their health care. We also believe that a doctor who does not practice good medicine should be disciplined. We do not, however, feel that publishing information on malpractice verdicts and settlements will provide reliable information for patients to use in selecting a doctor.
Medicine is not a perfect science. Despite the best efforts of the doctor, complications can occur and outcomes are not always optimal. These unfortunate results can give rise to plaintiff’s verdicts, but cannot be equated fairly to medical negligence or “bad doctoring.” Lawsuits can be filed for any reason and, as such, are not an indicator of competence or clinical skill. Doctors who take high-risk cases, such as neurosurgeons, are sued, on average, once every two years. This does not mean that all neurosurgeons are Abad@ doctors. In addition, a new doctor with no lawsuit history may not have the clinical experience a patient needs.
Settlements are also an inaccurate indicator of a doctor’s clinical skill. Some insurers settle malpractice cases for business reasons, not on their medical merits. To simply reduce a doctor’s qualifications to a list of verdicts and settlements is misleading to the consumer and can unfairly scar the reputation of a physician who provides exceptional care. Setting up such a “black and white” public indicator of competence does not serve patients – or anyone -- well. Policing physician competence is a much more complex issue. This is the reason for formal medical discipline and peer review systems.
ISMS supports a strong disciplinary process. Currently, all licensed Illinois doctors contribute to a fund earmarked for use by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), the state agency that disciplines doctors and other licensed professionals. In the 2004 state legislative session, we supported a bill that would greatly increase the ability of IDFPR to investigate complaints against doctors. The bill garnered majority support in the House, but was unfortunately kept from final
passage by the Speaker of the House.
There are many ways to find information about a doctor.
- Obtain a referral from someone you trust. Talk to other doctors, friends and family. Many county medical societies and hospitals have referral services.
- Find out if the doctor is board certified. Patients can access the American Board of Medical Specialties Web site at www.abms.org to see if a doctor is certified by one of the major medical specialty boards.
- Ask how many similar procedures the doctor has done.
- Ask if the doctor has current hospital privileges.
- Contact IDFPR or visit the Web site at www.idfpr.com to learn if a doctor has ever been disciplined.
- Search reputable sites on the Internet. There are additional sites that provide information on doctors, such as www.ama-assn.org, www.thehealthpages.com.
Doctors want consumers to have the information they need to make informed decisions about health care. We do not want “bad apples” scarring our profession, but the Illinois General Assembly must not rush to release irrelevant or incomplete information that will potentially discourage a patient from seeing the physician who may be best suited to provide their care.
www.isms.org
The Illinois State Medical Society is a professional membership association representing about 14,000 physicians in all specialties statewide.
Dr. Printen is a board certified general surgeon practicing in Evanston, Illinois.
Twenty North Michigan Avenue, Suite 700 Chicago, Illinois 60602 Telephone: 312-782-1654 Toll Free: 800-782-ISMS Fax: 312-782-2028