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Utah is among a group of states flagged by a consumer watchdog group for failing to sanction doctors who have been punished by the hospitals where they worked.
In two decades Utah hospitals have restricted or revoked the clinical privileges of 82 physicians, more than half of whom — 54 percent — escaped discipline by the state's medical board, a new report by Washington D.C.-based Public Citizen shows. The report analyzed data from the National Practitioner Data Bank, a clearinghouse of hospital disciplinary action and medical malpractice payments against doctors spanning 1990 to 2009.
"Either medical boards are failing to act on information received from hospitals, or they're not receiving the information. Regardless, something is broken and needs to be fixed," said Sidney Wolfe, a doctor and director of Public Citizen's health research group.
The identities of doctors ejected by Utah hospitals and whether their offenses would warrant licensing action is unknown. Some may be no longer practicing, the report acknowledges.
Absent these details, "It's hard for us to respond," said Francine Giani, executive director of the Department of Commerce and its Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing.
Unlike some states, Utah doesn't require hospitals to report disciplinary actions to licensing officials, Giani said.
But Wolfe said there's an easy alternative: For a fee, states can query the data bank, overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and sign up to receive alerts. Hospitals must notify the data bank of any suspension of privileges lasting more than 30 days.
The organization has asked Utah and other states to review its report and work with federal officials to identify and investigate rogue doctors. The data bank doesn't make identifying information on physicians available to the public, but it is open to licensing boards.
Wolfe said health care centers only suspend doctor's privileges for serious deviations of behavior or performance. "Hospitals are generally reluctant to discipline doctors, because they bring in revenue. When they do, it's serious and should be the kind of thing that wakes up medical boards," he said.
Nationally, of 10,672 physicians listed in the data bank for losing clinical privileges, about 55 percent, or 5,887, escaped licensing action, the report found.
Of those, 2,071 were sanctioned for the most serious of violations: doctors who posed an immediate threat to health or safety, were incompetent or negligent or provided substandard care.
Other cases triggering hospital action included sexual misconduct, fraud and narcotics violations, substance abuse and practicing beyond the scope of privileges.
Utah fared better in the report than Hawaii, where just over 77 percent of disciplined doctors escaped licensing sanctions. Other states in the 70 percent range were: Delaware, New Mexico, Nevada, South Dakota and Tennessee.
kstewart@sltrib.com National PractitionerData Bank
What is it? • The federal database was created by Congress in 1986 as a tool to prevent incompetent health care workers from relocating from state to state. The clearinghouse collects data on medical-malpractice payments and disciplinary actions by licensing boards, hospitals and professional societies.
How is it used? • Major hospitals tap the data bank before hiring new providers or granting privileges. "If they show up in that database, they probably won't get hired here," said Christopher Nelson, a spokesman at University of Utah Health Sciences.
O See report online: > citizen.org/hrg1937