DELAWARE: BILL WOULD ALLOW ACCESS TO DOCTOR RECORDS
Legislation under consider by the state Legislature wouldThis is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
give "the board that licenses and disciplines doctors access to
secret records that show how doctors police one another
professionally." The bill (SB 20) would allow the state Board of
Medical Practice "to subpoena those now secret records during
investigations of serious complaints against doctors." The
records would reveal whether "a patient's complaint about a
doctor was unfounded, reflected an isolated incident or was part
of a pattern of misconduct." State Rep. Stephanie Ulhrich (R),
who co-sponsored the bill along with state Sen. Patricia Blevins
(D), said that consumers and board members urged lawmakers to
make the change. Blevins said she hopes the bill will be passed
this spring.
NECESSITY: Robert Barker, a former board member, said that
without the bill, the board must conduct investigations as if it
has "one hand tied behind its back." Wilmington NEWS JOURNAL
reports that usually "the board has to depend on testimony from
witnesses of the action that led to the original complaint."
Therefore, having access to the records "could help either
patient or doctor by supplying evidence that could support or
weaken a claim."
CONCERNS: Dr. Paul Howard, president of the Medical Society
of Delaware, expressed concern "about a potential breach of
confidentiality." NEWS JOURNAL reports that the medical society
is currently working "to assure that the records would not be
made public." Dr. Cecil Gordon Jr., vice president-elect of the
state Board of Medical Practice, responded, "Some physicians are
afraid the information will no longer be confidential, but there
will be no breach of confidentiality." He said that "the records
would remain in the possession of the board, as details of
investigations do now." NEWS JOURNAL reports that while some
other states, including Maryland and California, "have laws that
boards interpret as providing access to records," Delaware may be
the first state to pass a law explicitly providing such access
(Harriman, 2/23).