MDNews - Central New York

E ARLIER THIS YEAR, Gov. Andrew Cuomo stunned Albany observers by proposing elimination of the State's Physician Profile website that was established under terms of the Patient Health Information and Quality Improvement Act of 2000, signed into law by Gov. George Pataki. This act brought New York state into compliance with congressional legislation on the same subject. As physicians know, they are required to provide the State Department of Health with certain information, such as their medical education, translation services in their office and legal actions taken against them. The leadership and government rela- tions team of the Medical Society of the State of New York had to decide whether to support the governor's proposal, oppose it or take no position. Ultimately, the latter option was agreed upon, which is a testament to how popular the website has become — it receives more than 30,000 hits per month, on average. Physician frustration with the physician profile process has greatly reduced since its inception 15 years ago. Supporting elimination of the process could have also resulted in bad publicity from the news media for the statewide physician orga- nization and physicians in general. The State Legislature rejected the governor's proposal during the 2015 session. There are multiple sources of informa- tion available on hospitals and physicians, many of whom have their own websites. While some patients still rely on the opinions of friends, relatives, coworkers or primary care physicians, websites and social media are increasingly factoring into patient decision-making. In recent years, physician scorecards have become more popular. During the summer, ProP ublica, which is billed as an investigative journalism website, launched a new database about complication rates for 17,000 surgeons in the country. One area surgeon who is regarded as a leading specialist in his field received a low grade from ProPublica, which admitted that the Surgeon Scorecard was its first attempt, and suggested that other versions can be improved. Several years ago New York state started releasing statistical data on cardiac surgeons, taking into account several factors on such surgery. A cardiac surgeon at St. Joseph's Hospital in Syracuse was ranked No. 1. Kendrick Sears, MD, of Syracuse, a retired orthopedic surgeon, chaired the State Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) for eight years and also served as vice president of medical affairs at Crouse Hospital. The Physician Profile was instituted during his watch at OPMC. This year, OPMC announced it will be expanding efforts to ensure physicians are complying with the mandate to update their profiles. Dr. Sears com- mented that a small number of physicians commit acts of professional misconduct. He believes it is vital for physicians to take their proper roles in policing physi- cians for the benefit of the profession and the public. Over the years, many county medical societies had grievance committees to review complaints from patients. Most of these committees have been abandoned on advice of legal counsel who have pointed out that many medical society insurance policies exclude protection for grievance committees. The State Health Department has a hotline people can call if they have a complaint against a provider. Physicians and their attorneys do not think anonymous complaints are appro- priate and are counter to the American system of the accused's right to face his or her accuser. Physicians also believe the information about legal action taken against the doctor can, in some instances, be misleading. Cases are not infrequently settled in order to minimize legal cost and may not be a fair reflection on the physician's ability or actions. Accepting or denying someone for hospi- tal privileges has become more challenging since a ruling sent shock waves across the country several years ago. A West Coast physician filed an anti-trust suit when he was denied hospital privileges by a hospital committee dominated by members of a large medical group — of which he was not a member. As an anti-trust suit, the award was tripled. That verdict made hospital committees overseeing hospital privilege matters more cautious. Another hospital-related issue is the increasing number of hospital medical staffs who have hired legal counsel separate from hospital legal counsel, who previously represented both sides. This is an added expense to the hospital medical staff, but in the minds of most, it is a wise expense. Gerald N. "Jerry" Hoffman was chief executive officer of the Onondaga County Medical Society from 1981 until his retire- ment on Jan. 31, 2014. He is co-author of two books, Medical Malpractice Insurance, A Legislator's View and The History of Local Medical Care, 1806-2006. ■ More New York State's Physician Profile By Gerald N. "Jerry" Hoffman ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++ + +++ + ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ❮ HEALTHCARE PERSPECTIVES M D N E W S . CO M ■ MD NEWS Central New York | 5

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