What is a State Medical Board?

From: Helen Dynda (olddad66@runestone.net)
Fri May 4 11:09:25 2001


What is a State Medical Board? The primary responsibility and obligation of a state medical board is to protect consumers of health care through proper licensing and regulation of physicians and, in some jurisdictions, other health care professionals.

The practice of medicine is not an inherent right of an individual, but a privilege granted by the people of a state acting through their elected representatives. To protect the public from the unprofessional, improper and incompetent practice of medicine, it is necessary for the state to provide laws and regulations that outline the practice of medicine and the responsibility of the medical board to regulate that practice. This guidance is outlined in a state statute, usually called a medical practice act.

Medical board structure

Board membership is composed of volunteers who are charged with upholding the medical practice act in their jurisdictions.

A state medical board is usually composed of physician and public members who are, in most instances, appointed by the governor. Some boards are independent in structure, exercising all licensing and disciplinary powers, while others are part of a larger umbrella agency, such as the Department of Health, exercising varied levels of responsibilities or functioning in an advisory capacity. Funding for medical board activities comes from licensing and registration fees.

Most boards employ an administrative staff, which includes an executive officer, attorneys and investigators, with some legal services provided by the state's office of the attorney general.

Physician licensure

Assembling a quality physician population to meet the needs of the public begins with licensure.

Through the licensure process the state ensures all practicing physicians have appropriate education and training, and they abide by recognized standards of professional conduct while serving their patients. Applicants must submit proof of prior education and training and provide details about their work history. Candidates for licensure must also complete a rigorous examination, designed to assess a physician's ability to apply knowledge, concepts and principles that are important in health and disease and that constitute the basis of safe and effective patient care. Finally, the applicant must reveal information regarding past medical history (including the use of habit-forming drugs, emotional or mental illness), arrests and convictions.

After physicians are licensed in a given state, they must re-register periodically to continue their active status. During this re-registration process, physicians are required to demonstrate that they have maintained acceptable standards of ethics and medical practice, and have not engaged in improper conduct. In some states, physicians must also show they have participated in a program of continuing medical education.

Regulation of physicians

The duty of the board goes beyond the licensing and re-registration of physicians.

The board is charged with the responsibility of evaluating when a physician's professional conduct or ability to practice medicine warrants modification, suspension or revocation of the license to practice medicine. Board members devote a great deal of time and attention to overseeing the practice of physicians by reviewing complaints from consumers, malpractice data, information from hospitals and other health care institutions, and reports from government agencies.

When a board receives a complaint about a physician, and there is reason to believe the physician has violated the law, the board has the power to investigate, hold hearings, and if necessary, impose some form of discipline.

What is unprofessional conduct?

The Medical Practice Act defines unprofessional conduct in each state.

Although laws vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, some examples of unprofessional conduct include:

* physical abuse of a patient

* inadequate record keeping

* not recognizing or acting on common symptoms

* prescribing drugs in excessive amounts without legitimate reason

* impaired ability to practice due to addiction, or physical or mental illness

* failing to meet continuing medical education requirements

* performing duties beyond the scope of a license

* dishonesty

* conviction of a felony

* delegating the practice of medicine to an unlicensed individual

Minor disagreements do not fall under misconduct, nor does poor customer service.

Due process

Whatever the complaint, physicians are afforded the rights of due process as the board investigates a complaint of misconduct.

The tenents of due process state that an individual is innocent until proven guilty and apply to formal hearing/judicial procedures, which the medical board carries out by following established rules and principles, to ensure that a physician is not treated unfairly, arbitrarily or unreasonably. In instances of severely egregious behavior, boards have the authority to summarily suspend a physician's license until an administrative law hearing can be scheduled.

Board Action vs. Malpractice

The differences between a board action and a malpractice suit are significant.

Board actions are those taken against physicians following a formal process of complaint, investigation and hearing. Whereby a sanction taken by a medical board against a physician does indicate that a violation of the medical practice act has occurred, malpractice claims are not always accurate measures of a physician's competence or violation of the law. The reason is twofold: 1) anyone can file a malpractice suit without showing evidence of damage; and 2) often malpractice insurance carriers opt to settle out-of-court rather than incur the expense of a court appearance (many times the physician's guilt, innocence or preference is not a factor in this decision).

Medical boards may review malpractice reports to proactively identify practitioners who may be a hazard to the public by detecting a pattern of inappropriate actions.

Public Protection vs. Physician Discipline

Medical boards focus on protecting the public, not on punishing physicians.

While medical boards do find it necessary to suspend or revoke licenses, regulators believe that many problems can be resolved with probation and by putting restrictions on a physician's license so the public is protected while maintaining a valuable community resource. Probation and restrictions of a medical license can be in place as a physician receives further training or rehabilitation.

Sharing of information

Disciplinary sanctions imposed by a board are reported to the Federation of State Medical Boards, state and local medical and osteopathic societies, the American Medical Association, the American Osteopathic Association, the National Practitioner Data Bank and appropriate government agencies.

The Federation operates a national Board Action Data Bank that houses records of disciplinary actions dating back to the 1960s. This information is available to all state medical boards and appropriate credentialing agencies.

Responsibilities of consumers

First and foremost, be an educated consumer.

Consumers of health care can gather a great deal of information that may be useful in selecting a physician. The state medical board can assist by disclosing if a physician is currently licensed, if disciplinary action has ever been imposed or, in some cases, if disciplinary charges are pending. Members of the public can also inquire if the board has other public information on a physician's record (this may include criminal convictions and malpractice judgments).

Citizens who believe that the quality of medical care they receive is substandard or that a physician has engaged in unprofessional conduct should contact their state medical board. Unless such problems are brought to the attention of the medical board, physicians who are grossly negligent or incompetent may continue their practices unencumbered.

For more information, Contact the medical licensing board in your state.

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To locate the above article:

1.) Enter: http://www.fsmb.org/

2.) Click: State Medical Board Info

3.) Read; and then click: "What is a State Medical Board?"

4.) Read; and then click on "Contact" ( the last sentence of this article ) for more information about the medical licensing board in your state.


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