The North Carolina Medical Board has yet to add information to its Web site about the training and disciplinary histories of physicians licensed in the state, despite pledging more than a year ago to add the data, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.
David Henderson, the executive director of the N.C. Medical Board, said he and his staff spent the last year gathering information to enhance the site and had planned to begin posting data as soon as this month, the News & Observer reports. However, last fall board members questioned whether the changes were thorough enough, so Henderson's staff is waiting for recommendations from a task force concerning other facts to post online.
"We have to ask ourselves if it makes sense to spend the time and money to post this relatively limited information and then supplement it later, or whether it's better to wait and do it all at once," Henderson said.
The task force on Wednesday will suggest additional Web site changes, and the board will vote to adopt the changes on Thursday. The task force includes two medical board members, two physicians appointed by the North Carolina Medical Society and a representative from the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers.
The board could vote to include on the Web site information such as whether physicians have had malpractice payments made on their behalf and whether hospitals have limited or revoked a physician's right to practice at their facility (Fisher, Raleigh News & Observer, 1/16).