PRINTER'S NO. 1273
No. 1021 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY HUGHES, KUKOVICH, HELFRICK, LOGAN, TARTAGLIONE,
MUSTO, STACK AND SCHWARTZ, JUNE 27, 2001
REFERRED TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE, JUNE 27, 2001
AN ACT
1 Providing for medical practice disclosure; imposing powers and
2 duties on the Department of State; establishing the Medical
3 Professional Records Check Fund; and providing for penalties.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Short title.
7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Medical
8 Practice Disclosure Act.
9 Section 2. Legislative intent.
10 The General Assembly hereby recognizes the necessity of
11 allowing individuals to make informed and educated choices
12 regarding health care services and the essential need to provide
13 information to facilitate these important decisions. It further
14 recognizes that public disclosure of certain health care
15 information would lower the cost of health care through the use
16 of the most appropriate provider and improve the quality of
17 health care services by mandating the reporting of information
18 regarding health care providers. It is the intention of the
1 General Assembly to establish a procedure by which the general
2 public may obtain essential and basic information concerning
3 potential health care providers, while ensuring the accuracy and
4 disclosure of all relevant information that would enable
5 individuals to informatively select their health care provider.
6 Section 3. Definitions.
7 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
8 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
9 context clearly indicates otherwise:
10 "Department." The Department of State of the Commonwealth.
11 "Fund." The Medical Professional Records Check Fund
12 established under section 12.
13 "Physician." A medical doctor who has acquired one of the
14 following licenses to practice medicine and surgery issued by
15 the State Board of Medicine:
16 (1) License without restriction.
17 (2) Interim limited license.
18 (3) Graduate license.
19 (4) Institutional license.
20 (5) Temporary license.
21 (6) Extraterritorial license.
22 The term includes an individual licensed to practice osteopathic
23 medicine or surgery by the State Board of Osteopathic Medicine.
24 Section 4. Collection of information.
25 (a) Information.--The department shall collect for each
26 physician the following information, in a format developed by
27 the department that shall be available for dissemination to the
28 public pursuant to section 11:
29 (1) A description of any criminal convictions for
30 felonies and violent misdemeanors as determined by the
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1 department, within the most recent ten years. For the
2 purposes of this paragraph, a person shall be deemed to be
3 convicted of a crime if that person pleaded guilty or if that
4 person was found or adjudged guilty by a court of competent
5 jurisdiction.
6 (2) A description of any charges to which a physician
7 pleads nolo contendere or where sufficient facts of guilt
8 were found and the matter was continued without a finding by
9 a court of competent jurisdiction.
10 (3) A description of any final disciplinary actions
11 taken by the State Board of Medicine within the most recent
12 ten years.
13 (4) A description of any final disciplinary actions by
14 licensing boards in other states or reported in the National
15 Practitioner Data Bank within the most recent ten years.
16 (5) A description of revocation or involuntary
17 restriction of hospital privileges that have been taken by a
18 hospital's governing body or any other official of a hospital
19 after procedural due process has been afforded, or the
20 resignation from or nonrenewal of medical staff membership or
21 the restriction of privileges at a hospital taken in lieu of
22 or in settlement of a pending disciplinary case.
23 (6) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, all medical
24 malpractice court judgments and all medical malpractice
25 arbitration awards in which a payment is awarded to a
26 complaining party during the most recent ten years and all
27 settlements of medical malpractice claims in which a payment
28 is made to a complaining party within the most recent ten
29 years. Information concerning all settlements shall be
30 accompanied by the following statements:
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1 Settlement of a claim may occur for a variety of reasons
2 which do not necessarily reflect negatively on the
3 professional competence or conduct of the physician. A
4 payment in settlement of a medical malpractice action or
5 claim should not be construed as creating a presumption
6 that medical malpractice has occurred.
7 (7) A paragraph describing the malpractice experience of
8 each medical specialty and an explanation that some high-risk
9 specialties experience more malpractice claims than less
10 risky specialties. This information shall be updated on an
11 annual basis to reflect the most recent malpractice claims
12 experience of each specialty.
13 (8) Names of medical schools and dates of graduation.
14 (9) Graduate medical education.
15 (10) Specialty board certification.
16 (11) Number of years in practice.
17 (12) Names of the hospitals where the physician has
18 privileges.
19 (13) Appointments to medical school faculties and
20 indication as to whether the physician has a responsibility
21 for graduate medical education within the most recent ten
22 years.
23 (14) Information regarding publications in peer-reviewed
24 medical literature within the most recent ten years.
25 (15) Information regarding professional or community
26 service activities and awards.
27 (16) The location of the physician's primary practice
28 location.
29 (17) The identification of any translating services that
30 may be available at the physician's primary practice
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1 location.
2 (18) An indication of whether the physician participates
3 in the Medicaid program.
4 (b) Copy of profiles.--The department shall provide each
5 physician with a copy of that physician's profile prior to the
6 release to the public.
7 (c) Correction of information.--A physician shall be
8 provided a reasonable time to correct factual inaccuracies or
9 omissions that may appear in the profile.
10 (d) Information presenting undue risk of harm.--
11 (1) A physician may petition the Medical Licensure Board
12 for permission to temporarily omit certain information under
13 this section for a period not to exceed one year.
14 (2) If the physician demonstrates to the board that
15 disclosure of the information would represent an undue risk
16 of injury to the physician or the property of the physician,
17 the board may grant the request and the information shall be
18 withheld until such time as the situation is resolved, based
19 on the presentation of evidence to the board.
20 (e) Pending claims.--The department shall not disclose any
21 pending malpractice claims to the public, and nothing in this
22 section shall be construed to prohibit the department from
23 investigating and disciplining a physician on the basis of
24 pending medical malpractice claim information obtained under
25 this act.
26 Section 5. Report of criminal convictions and pleas of nolo
27 contendere.
28 (a) Duty of clerk of court.--
29 (1) The clerk of any court in which a physician is
30 convicted of any crime or in which an unregistered
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1 practitioner is convicted of holding himself out as a
2 practitioner of medicine or of practicing medicine shall,
3 within one week thereafter, report the same to the State
4 Board of Medicine together with a copy of the court
5 proceedings in the case.
6 (2) For the purposes of this section, a person shall be
7 deemed to be convicted of a crime if he pleaded guilty or was
8 found or adjudged guilty by a court of competent
9 jurisdiction.
10 (3) Upon review, the State Board of Medicine shall
11 provide the information to the department for purposes
12 consistent with this act.
13 (b) Pleading of nolo contendere.--In the instance where a
14 physician pleads nolo contendere to charges or where sufficient
15 facts of guilt were found and the matter was continued without a
16 finding by a court of competent jurisdiction, the clerk shall,
17 within one week thereafter, report the same to the State Board
18 of Medicine together with a copy of the court proceedings in the
19 case. Upon review, the State Board of Medicine shall provide the
20 information to the department for purposes consistent with this
21 act.
22 Section 6. Reports by hospitals and health care facilities.
23 (a) Action report.--Each hospital or health care facility
24 licensed under the act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, No.48), known
25 as the Health Care Facilities Act, shall report to the
26 department if the hospital or facility denies, restricts,
27 revokes or fails to renew staff privileges or accepts the
28 resignation of a physician for any reason related to the
29 physician's competence to practice medicine or for any other
30 reason related to a complaint or allegation regarding any
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1 violation of law, regulation, rule or bylaw of the hospital or
2 facility regardless of whether the complaint or allegation
3 specifically states a violation of a specific law, regulation,
4 rule or bylaw. The report shall be filed within 30 days of the
5 occurrence of the reportable action and include details
6 regarding the nature and circumstances of the action, its date
7 and the reasons for it.
8 (b) Annual disciplinary report.--Each hospital or health
9 care facility licensed under the Health Care Facilities Act
10 shall file an annual disciplinary report with the department no
11 later than January 31 and shall send the report by certified or
12 registered mail. The report shall summarize the action reports
13 submitted for the previous calendar year and shall be signed
14 under oath. If the hospital or facility submitted no action
15 reports for the previous calendar year, then the report required
16 by this subsection shall state than no action reports were
17 required.
18 (c) Liability.--No hospital, health care facility or person
19 that reports information to the department under this section
20 shall be liable to the physician referenced in the report for
21 making the report, provided that the report is made in good
22 faith and without malice.
23 Section 7. Reports of disciplinary action by professional
24 medical organizations.
25 (a) Report of disciplinary action.--A professional medical
26 association, society, body, professional standards review
27 organization or similarly constituted professional organization,
28 whether or not such association, society, body or organization
29 is local, regional, State, national or international in scope,
30 shall report to State Board of Medicine the disciplinary action
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1 taken against any physician. Such report of disciplinary action
2 shall be filed with the board within 30 days of such
3 disciplinary action, shall be in writing and shall be mailed to
4 the board by certified or registered mail. Upon review, the
5 State Board of Medicine shall provide the information to the
6 department for purposes consistent with this act.
7 (b) Definition.--As used in this section, the term
8 "disciplinary action" includes, but is not limited to,
9 revocation, suspension, censure, reprimand, restriction,
10 nonrenewal, denial or restriction of privileges or resignation.
11 A denial or restriction of privileges or a resignation shall be
12 reported only when the resignation or the denial or restriction
13 of privileges is related in any way to:
14 (1) the physician's competence to practice medicine; or
15 (2) a complaint or allegation regarding any violation of
16 law or regulation, including, but not limited to, the
17 regulations of the department or the State Board of Medicine
18 or hospital, health care facility or professional medical
19 association bylaws, whether or not the complaint or
20 allegation specifically cites violation of a specified law,
21 regulation or bylaw.
22 Section 8. Reports by insurers of malpractice claims or
23 actions.
24 (a) Report required.--Every insurer or risk management
25 organization which provides professional liability insurance to
26 a physician shall report to the department any claim or action
27 for damages for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by
28 error, omission or negligence in the performance of the
29 physician's professional services where the claim resulted in:
30 (1) final judgment in any amount;
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1 (2) settlement in any amount; or
2 (3) final disposition not resulting in payment on behalf
3 of the insured.
4 (b) Report.--Reports shall be filed with the department no
5 later than 30 days following the occurrence of any event listed
6 under this section.
7 (c) Form.--The reports shall be in writing on a form
8 prescribed by the department and shall contain the following
9 information:
10 (1) The name, address, specialty coverage and policy
11 number of the physician against whom the claim is made.
12 (2) The name, address and age of the claimant or
13 plaintiff.
14 (3) The nature and substance of the claim.
15 (4) The date when and place where the claim arose.
16 (5) The amounts paid, if any, and the date, manner of
17 disposition, judgment and settlement.
18 (6) The date and reason for final disposition, if no
19 judgment or settlement.
20 (7) Such additional information as the department shall
21 require. No insurer or its agents or employees shall be
22 liable in any cause of action arising from reporting to the
23 department as required in this section.
24 Section 9. Reports of violations by public offenders or
25 employees.
26 Any officer or employer of any agency, executive office,
27 department, board, commission, bureau, division or authority of
28 the Commonwealth, or of any political subdivision thereof, who
29 is engaged in the provision or oversight of medical or health
30 services shall report to the State Board of Medicine any person
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1 who is reasonably believed to be in violation of any applicable
2 State regulation, except as otherwise prohibited by law. Upon
3 review, the State Board of Medicine shall provide the
4 information to the department for purposes consistent with this
5 act.
6 Section 10. Reports by physicians of settlements or arbitration
7 awards.
8 (a) General rule.--A physician who does not possess
9 professional liability insurance shall report to the department
10 every settlement or arbitration award of a claim or action for
11 damages for death or personal injury caused by negligence, error
12 or omission in practice, or the unauthorized rendering of
13 professional services by the physician. The report shall be made
14 within 30 days after the settlement agreement has been reduced
15 to writing or 30 days after service of the arbitration award on
16 the parties as long as it is signed by all the parties.
17 (b) Civil penalty.--
18 (1) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2), a
19 physician who fails to comply with the provisions of this
20 section shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than
21 $500.
22 (2) A physician who makes a knowing or intentional
23 failure to comply with the provisions of this section, or
24 conspires or colludes not to comply with the provisions of
25 this section, or hinders or impedes any other person in such
26 compliance, shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less
27 than $5,000 nor more than $50,000.
28 Section 11. Public access to information.
29 (a) Telephone hotline.--
30 (1) The department shall establish a telephone number
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1 which shall be operational on every business day between the
2 hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. local time for the purposes of
3 disseminating information pursuant to section 4 to any
4 inquiry. The department shall employ and train those
5 personnel necessary to administer the provisions of this act
6 and shall give first consideration to any displaced
7 employees.
8 (2) Effective January 1, 2002, a fee of not more than
9 $20 shall be assessed to all physicians. Effective December
10 31, 2002, a fee of not more than $20 shall be assessed to all
11 physicians, and the fee shall be collected every two years to
12 coincide with the collection of physician's license renewal
13 fees. All money collected under this section shall be
14 deposited into the fund.
15 (b) Internet.--The department may disseminate information
16 pursuant to section 4 by posting the information on the
17 Commonwealth's web site on the Internet. The fees collected
18 under subsection (a) may be used to pay for the expenses of
19 complying with this subsection.
20 (c) Definition.--As used in this section, the term
21 "displaced employees" means individuals who are recipients of
22 public assistance or who, within the preceding 12 months, have
23 been displaced from jobs due to employer relocation, downsizing
24 or facility closings.
25 Section 12. Medical Professional Records Check Fund.
26 There is hereby established a Medical Professional Records
27 Check Fund as a nonlapsing fund in the State Treasury. The
28 moneys of the fund shall be kept separate and apart from all
29 other public money or funds of the Commonwealth and are hereby
30 appropriated to the Department of State on a continuing basis
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1 for use in carrying out the provisions of this act.
2 Section 13. Rules and regulations.
3 The department shall in the manner provided by law promulgate
4 the rules and regulations necessary to carry out the provisions
5 of this act, including, but not limited to, the exchange of
6 information between the State Board of Medicine, the department
7 and relevant Commonwealth agencies and judicial administrative
8 offices.
9 Section 14. Effective date.
10 This act shall take effect January 1, 2002, or immediately,
11 whichever is later.
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