Exposing Bad Docs Who Hide From Their Past

One proposed solution: open the National Practitioner Data Bank to the public

When it comes to improving the nation's broken system of physician discipline, many advocates say the starting point should be fixing something that was created to do the job in the first place.

In 1986, Congress created the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), pledging it would improve healthcare and reduce fraud and abuse. The data bank records all sorts of things: malpractice payments, disciplinary action, restrictions of hospital privileges, and other transgressions.

There are just three problems:

• The system can be gamed, so not all problem physicians appear on the list.
• State medical boards don't always check the data bank.
• And, the information is off limits to those who are most at risk: patients.