By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Journalists Decry WH Decision to Pull Physicians’ Database
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Medical Ethics > Journalists Decry WH Decision to Pull Physicians’ Database
Medical Ethics

Journalists Decry WH Decision to Pull Physicians’ Database

MichaelDouglas1
MichaelDouglas1
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

Throughout one’s professional life as a physician, there are some things that are inevitable: changes to Medicare reimbursement schedules due to factors beyond our control, insurance denials, and the presence of the National Practitioner Data Bank — the omniscient arbiter of physician conformity and performance in the eyes of the public and watchdog groups. This latter factor is one many physicians manage to avoid, especially in this age of defensive medicine. But, sometimes lawsuits rear their ugly heads, and notifications of judgments follow the unfortunate clinician forever.

Throughout one’s professional life as a physician, there are some things that are inevitable: changes to Medicare reimbursement schedules due to factors beyond our control, insurance denials, and the presence of the National Practitioner Data Bank — the omniscient arbiter of physician conformity and performance in the eyes of the public and watchdog groups. This latter factor is one many physicians manage to avoid, especially in this age of defensive medicine. But, sometimes lawsuits rear their ugly heads, and notifications of judgments follow the unfortunate clinician forever.

The NYT is reporting that groups of journalists are protesting the Obama administration’s apparent decision to remove the database access from the Internet, at the same time, imposing fines for confidentiality breaches as sources for articles.

“Reporters across the country have used the public use file to write stories that have exposed serious lapses in the oversight of doctors that have put patients at risk,” Charles Ornstein, president of the Association of Health Care Journalists and a reporter for ProPublica, an investigative newsroom, said in an interview. “Their stories have led to new legislation, additional levels of transparency in various states, and kept medical boards focused on issues of patient safety.”

Having used ProPublica as a source for many an article or post here on Doctor Pundit; I, too, am understandably concerned. The feds say that the issue was whether more private information — as opposed to the public database — was accessed and that the response to the original complaint letter was sent directly to a journalist upon database takedown. Further, a division spokesman from within DHS explains

More Read

How Much Liposuction is Safe? The Answer Differs for Everyone
Why Your Medical Practice Needs Used or Refurbished Medical Equipment
Calling the Doctor After Hours
Prime Healthcare Billing Processes Under Question as 25% of Medicare Patients are Showing Malnutrition- Profit Algorithms?
Employee Makes Fun of Patient on Facebook

“We are going to do everything we can to get the data back up in a public use file as quickly as we possibly can,” Mr. Kramer said. “We want to make sure the public, researchers and reporters have access to all the information that we can legally make available.”

Seems that it would be in the best interest of the public to get this resolved as quickly as possible, and without significant “changes” made to the public file by a government agency.

Related posts:

  1. MN-Based UnitedHealth Accused of Limiting Payments to Physicians of Out-of-Network Patients Minneapolis-based UnitedHealth, which also happens to be the largest healthcare…
  2. Massachusetts Physicians Win Judicial Decision on Issues of Patient Confidentiality Most — if not all — state regulatory boards of…
  3. Analysis: Pharma Payouts to Docs Increasingly Irresponsible in the Age of Reform The role of the physician as spokesperson in the name…

 

TAGGED:National Practioner Data Bank
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

dental care
Importance of Good Dental Care for Health and Confidence
Dental health Specialties
October 2, 2025
AI in Healthcare
AI in Healthcare: Technology is Transforming the Global Landscape
Global Healthcare Policy & Law Technology
October 1, 2025
Choosing the Right Swimwear for Health and Safety
News
September 30, 2025
sports concussions
Concussion In Sports: How Common They Are And What You Need To Know
Infographics
September 28, 2025

You Might also Like

J and J DePuy Hip Recall Methodologies Touching on Patient Privacy

August 22, 2011
Patient Perception
Health

Medical Scrubs And Patient Perception: How Clothing Affects Patient Trust

July 11, 2023
Medical EthicsPublic Health

Who Deserves Quality Medical Care?

August 17, 2015
medical practice ADA compliance
Medical EducationMedical EthicsPolicy & Law

Ensuring Your Medical Practice is ADA Compliant

September 13, 2021
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?