| NEWARK
– Public Citizen, a national, nonprofit
consumer advocacy organization based in
Washington, D.C., has ranked New Jersey
first in a survey of the content and user-friendliness
of doctor disciplinary information found
on state medical board Web sites, Attorney
General Stuart Rabner and Consumer Affairs
Acting Director Stephen B. Nolan announced
today.
“I
am pleased that Public Citizen has recognized
the quality of the Board of Medical Examiners’
website,” said Attorney General Rabner.
“The site is a great resource for
consumers looking for information about
physicians so they can make an informed
choice when selecting a health care provider.”
State medical boards are responsible for
taking action against physician misconduct
and making information about those disciplinary
actions available to the public. The Public
Citizen report, issued today, considered
eight criteria when conducting their survey:
types of physician-identifying information,
board disciplinary action information, disciplinary
actions taken by hospitals, disciplinary
actions taken by the federal government
(Medicare, Drug Enforcement Administration,
and Food and Drug Administration), malpractice
information, criminal conviction information,
Web Site search capabilities and other information.
The
10 states receiving the highest overall
scores (out of 100) for their sites are:
New Jersey (83.7 points), Virginia (79.2),
Massachusetts (79.1), New York (70.9), Vermont
– medical only (70.9), Georgia (68.7),
California – medical only (68.0),
Idaho (65.0), Florida – osteopathy
only (64.1); and Florida – medical
only (64.1). The 10 states receiving the
lowest scores are: North Dakota (12.3),
New Mexico – osteopathy only (12.5),
West Virginia – osteopathy only (13.0),
Louisiana (14.9), South Dakota (16.6), Arkansas
(16.9), Alaska (18.4), Indiana (20.1), Montana
(20.3); and Minnesota (20.5).
"The
BME website gives consumers some of the
tools that they need to make an informed
decision about a doctor," said Acting
Director Nolan. "We hope that consumers
use this free service often and let their
friends know about it."
The Division of Consumer Affairs, a division
of the Attorney General’s office,
oversees the Board of Medical Examiners
in addition to many other health-related
boards and committees.
The Division also provides a unique consumer
protection Web site which lists information
about the State's medical doctors, podiatrists
and optometrists. The site, www.NJDoctorList.org,
allows consumers to search for a particular
doctor using their name, or generate a list
of doctors by searching according to field
of medicine, hospital affiliation or office
location. The site also allows you to find
out about a doctor’s education, training
and medical practice, whether they speak
a certain language or has an office accessible
to persons with disabilities, or whether
they have been the subject of any disciplinary
actions or made any malpractice payments
in the last five years.
The Public Citizen report is available at
www.citizen.org
and select Press
Room. The New Jersey board of Medical
Examiners’ website is www.state.nj.us/lps/ca/bme.
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