1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
"Disciplined Docs Practice Freely In The State" by Lisa Chedekel.
Some research for this piece was done by Margaret Lohmiller and Michael Billera, graduate students at Quinnipiac University. Margaret and Michael were C-HIT interns.
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
Dec. 6, 2010.
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Lisa uncovered that several doctors were practicing freely in Connecticut after being disciplined or sanctioned in the neighboring states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York. She also found that Connecticut often takes no action against doctors who are disciplined neighboring states in contrast to medical boards in those other states, which do impose their own reciprocal sanctions after Connecticut takes disciplinary action. Also some doctors sanctioned in other states have relocated to Connecticut, with no license restrictions.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Lisa reviewed three years of licensing board actions taken against doctors in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York. She then cross-checked those actions against Connecticut's licensing board records. (going back three years.) She found more than dozen doctors practicing freely. She also used the Disciplinary Alert Service and the National Practitioner Data Bank among others.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
Lisa referenced a report by Public Citizen Health Research which reported that Connecticut ranks 47th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia in the rate of serious disciplinary actions taken by state medical boards against physicians from 2007 through 2009. She spoke to the state Department of Public Health. She attempted to reach all doctors involved in the story.
6. Results (if any).
The Department of Public Health said that it would submit legislation in the 2011 legislative session to give the agency clear authority to take action against doctors, though some officials maintain that the department has the authority now.
7. Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
None.
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
The work can be tedious. It takes a long time to go through the licensing board actions but is well worth the days of work.