ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 8, 1996 TAG: 9611080079
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A9 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BOSTON
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
MASSACHUSETTS IS THE FIRST state letting people check easily into the backgrounds of their physicians.
Massachusetts residents called by the hundreds Thursday for never-before- available information on their doctors - malpractice payouts, disciplinary records and criminal history.
It is the first time doctor files have been opened to the public in the United States. Other states including Florida, California, Wisconsin and New York are considering similar disclosure laws.
``People are calling with five or six names,'' said state medical board spokeswoman Kim Hinden, adding that five frazzled operators handled more than 500 calls by early afternoon.
Nicole Halpin, a mother of two from Pepperell, called the toll-free number after her 1-year-old son suffered a stroke following his 19th brain surgery.
``Somebody's responsible,'' Halpin said. ``We're not sure what really happened so we need to do background checks for everyone that's worked on him.''
The profiles, which also list education, honors and awards, hospital affiliations, insurance plans and specialties, are sent by fax directly from the operators' computer terminals, or are mailed the same day. The system allows consumers to request as many as 10 profiles at a time.
Eric Chadsey, a father of five from Leominster, called for a profile on the doctor his family has seen for a decade.
``I don't think it will affect the fact that we go to him,'' he said. ``It's just an interesting opportunity to see what issues he had in the past.''
Dr. Charlotte Yeh, chief of the emergency department at New England Medical Center, said she hoped people would seek the profiles before choosing a doctor, not after there is a problem.
``Typically, when people reach out for information about their doctor, it's frequently negative. They're looking for what went wrong,'' she said. ``The difference here is it makes it a much more open process.''
Patients rights advocates cautioned against thinking the profiles provide everything a patient needs to know.
For example, malpractice awards under appeal won't show up, nor will consumer complaints that never resulted in lawsuits.
Also, only criminal convictions and disciplinary actions taken by hospitals or medical officials within the past 10 years are listed.
``It's a starting point,'' said Linda DeBenedictis, president of the New England Patients Rights Group. ``You still have to use your own insight, talk to other people, talk to nurses, other doctors.''
DeBenedictis' group lobbied to have the amount of malpractice decisions listed, and whether they were the result of a jury decision or out-of-court settlement.
The Massachusetts Medical Society fought off a bill that would have required disclosure of all complaints and malpractice claims, proven or not, and in the end backed the milder initiative.
Overall, 92 percent of the 27,000 doctors licensed in Massachusetts had no marks on their records for the past 10 years, according to the state Board of Registration in Medicine.
LENGTH: Medium: 65 linesby CNB