Practitioner profiling.

• Author: Howell, James T.
• Position: Florida

Take a moment to consider the last time you made a major investment. Was it an automobile, a new home, appliances, stocks, a child's education? Most of us have experienced the tension that generally accompanies spending a great deal of money. To educate ourselves, many of us spend time researching our investments. We consult reference magazines, like Consumer Reports, to find out how various car models or appliances rate. We hire inspectors prior to closing on a home to ensure its value. We spend time with our stockbroker or search the World Wide Web for information about a company's stability before investing. Often, we travel from college to college, talking to faculty and students in search of an institution of higher learning that will yield the greatest benefit for our children.

Now consider your health and medical care needs. I believe that most Floridians would consider their health and the health of their loved ones among the most valued things in their lives. Senate Bill 948, sponsored by Senator Ginny Brown-Waite and passed by the legislature in 1997 (F.S. [subsections] 455.5651-455.5656), will provide consumers access to extensive information about physicians, osteopathic physicians, podiatrists, and chiropractors that will help to make a more informed community.

Transfer of Medical Quality Assurance

The state boards in Florida regulate 37 health care professions. All medical boards operating through the Division of Medical Quality Assurance were transferred on July 1, 1997, from the Agency for Health Care Administration to the new Department of Health. The Department of Health was established with the mission to promote and protect the health and safety of all Floridians. In the same 62 THE FLORIDA BAR JOURNAL/APRIL 1998 respect, the medical boards exist to protect the public's health by ensuring the quality of care, integrity, and the principles of the professions they govern. Ongoing debate exists in academic and political arenas about a profession's ability to regulate itself. A careful examination of the process by which the medical boards operate reflects the boards' commitment to ensure the quality of the professions they govern. However, in addition to the boards' commitment, consumer participation and broad-based public accountability are essential safeguards.

Practitioner Profiling

Senate Bill 948 addressed issues other than the transfer of the medical boards. The legislature also enacted this bill to provide Floridians the opportunity to obtain information about their health care practitioners quickly and easily. This "practitioner profiling" legislation authorizes the Department of Health to create for publication a health care practitioner profile. The profile makes readily available to consumers certain biographical...