Profession

Study finds discipline rates misleading when linked to probable patient harm

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Feb. 5, 2007

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An annual report on physician discipline may mislead people about which states have problems with physicians, according to research in the latest issue of the Wisconsin Medical Journal.

University of Wisconsin, Madison, researchers said they found methodology problems with the report by Public Citizen's Health Resource Group. The study said definitions of licensure actions and methods of counting physicians vary among states, making it impossible to draw consistent conclusions when comparing state rankings. The report said Public Citizen used populations that sometimes included non-practicing retired doctors, skewing the rates when compared with states where the group used only practicing physicians.

Peter Lurie, MD, MPH, deputy director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, disputed the research and said his group's findings are accurate. He said Public Citizen does a good job ranking the quality of state medical boards.

The study appears in Volume 105, No. 8 of the journal, which is the official publication of the Wisconsin Medical Society.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/02/05/prbf0205.htm.

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