First physician background checks available
Tracey Miller
Daily Free Press Staff Writer

With the ease of a phone call, Massachusetts residents can now review the most up-to-date information available about their physicians.

Lt. Gov. Paul Cellucci unveiled the Physician Profile project, which, as of yesterday, makes Massachusetts the first state to provide its citizens comprehensive information on doctors.

"The Physician Profiles will allow unprecedented access to information about Massachusetts physicians that until now had not been available," Cellucci said downtown yesterday at the state Board of Medicine office.

The profiles consist of physicians' educational backgrounds, hospital and insurance plan affiliations, awards and accreditations, malpractice payment and disciplinary histories, and criminal records.

The data should aid state residents in making quality health care decisions, according to a written statement from Gov. William F. Weld's office.

"Today is a proud one for Massachusetts," Cellucci said.

Other states, including Florida, California, Wisconsin and New York, are considering similar projects.

The Physician Profile legislation was filed in December 1994 by state Sen. Marc Pacheco (D-Taunton) and state Reps. Edward Teague (R-Yarmouth) and Linda Harkins (D-Needham) on behalf of the Massachusetts Medical Society.

After two years of discussion, most of the proposal is finally being implemented. Some argued to include malpractice appeals and lawsuits, but only convictions are available via the telephone system.

"We are proud to support this program," said Dr. Joseph M. Heyman, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society.

Currently, plans call for the Board of Medicine to either fax or mail the information to the consumer, but it is anticipated that the profiles will be available on CD-ROM and via the Internet by May.

According to Heyman, citizens have long been asking for physicians' backgrounds but could never get complete histories.

"We know that our patients want this information, and we want our patients to know that the physicians of Massachusetts will always put them first," Heyman said.

The service now provides a free, private way to choose a physician, rather than making patients pay for a consultation with telephone marketing firms, he said.

"Choosing a doctor is a very personal and important decision," said Dr. Rafik Attia, chairman of the state Board of Medicine. "The passage of the Physician Profile Bill will help us, as physicians, better meet the needs of our patients."

Cellucci, who has announced he will run for governor in 1998, said there are several aspects of health care that he and Weld will focus on cooperatively—including abused women, which he said is "a tragedy that we must do more to prevent."

Although Weld's bid to capture the seat of U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) failed, Cellucci said he and Weld could still do "good things" for the state.