Shopping for Philadelphia medical professionals these days isn't that different from shopping for a good auto mechanic. Both professions are populated by good and bad practitioners. The difference, of course, is that if your Philly auto mechanic does a bad job, you're merely annoyed. If your doctor does a bad job, you could suffer debilitating personal injury or die.
Like good auto mechanics, good doctors are usually found by word-of-mouth recommendations. Mechanics have the edge in that AAA ratings and Angie's List help assure Philadelphia customers that they'll receive satisfactory service. There's no Angie's List for the medical profession, but something similar is under construction.
The national Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank is being developed to alert Philadelphia hospitals and other members of the nation's medical community about disciplinary and professional actions taken against doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare workers. There are numerous cases where a physician or medical worker has left a hospital under the cloud of medical malpractice only to start practicing in a different hospital or community without penalty, his new employers and patients unaware of previous complaints. The national data bank is an attempt to plug this loophole and assure Philadelphia patients that they are receiving quality medical care.
The problem is that hospital and medical boards in Philadelphia and other cities are not reporting disciplinary actions to the data bank. ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative journalism group, recently brought the problem to the attention of Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Miscommunication between federal, state and local agencies is partly to blame. Delinquent agencies appear to be making an effort to update data bank reporting. Philadelphia malpractice lawyers believe the national data bank has the potential to reduce personal injuries from medical malpractice, reduce the potential for Philadelphia medical malpractice by denying problem doctors the opportunity to practice, and ensure that Philadelphians receive quality medical care.
