Access to list of disciplined health workers in limbo
Filed under: Government, Health data, Health journalism, Nursing, Public health, Public records, Tools
NPR’s Joseph Shapiro looked into the status of the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank, a database of nurses, nurse aides, pharmacists and pharmacy assistants who have been disciplined by state boards.
The 22-year-old database was supposed to be open to hospitals and nursing homes for background check purposes, but has been tied up in layers of bureaucracy. A policy for opening it up was written during the later years of the Bush administration, but the president decided to defer the decision to his successor.
Shapiro writes that the plan for opening the database is now under review by the Obama administration: “A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services says things are on track. And that maybe by early next year, the department will open the registry of disciplined nurses, aides and pharmacists.”
Related
Public Citizen has posted an open letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius requesting that the proposals to open the database be put into effect “immediately.” The letter explains why the database is important, and details the consequences of keeping it under wraps.
Comments
3 Comments on Access to list of disciplined health workers in limbo
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Tulsa World reports on disciplining doctors : Covering Health on
Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 4:03 pm
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Data Mine reports on access to practitioner data : Covering Health on
Thu, 15th Sep 2011 11:35 am
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AHCJ, other journalism organizations protest removal of data from public website : Covering Health on
Thu, 15th Sep 2011 12:27 pm
[...] Access to list of disciplined health workers in limbo [...]
[...] Access to list of disciplined health workers in limbo [...]
[...] National Practitioner Databank and the lack of public access to information in the database. • Access to list of disciplined health workers in limbo: NPR’s Joseph Shapiro looked into the status of the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data [...]
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