SENATOR DELGADO SPONSORS LEGISLATION TO ASSIST PATIENTS.

SPRINGFIELD, IL -- The following information was released by the Illinois State Senate Democrats:

Illinois State Senator William Delgado (D-Chicago) passed legislation out of committee that will require licensed physicians within Illinois to have their information available online, as well as any disciplinarian information.

"I want to ensure that patients have the resources available to them to make an informed decision when choosing a doctor," stated Senator Delgado, Chairman of the Senate Public Health Committee.

House Bill 105 creates the "Patients' Right to Know Act," which requires the Department of Professional Regulation to publish profiles of licensed physicians including information that will assist health care consumers in making informed choices about their primary and specialty health care providers. This measure will repeal current law concerning physician profiles.

This measure was originally a provision in the omnibus medical malpractice reform law which was struck down by the Supreme Court. In their opinion, they ruled that all of the provisions of the comprehensive reform law were void, even though they did not specifically object to the physician profile requirement.

This legislation will create an internet searchable data base that includes detailed Physician Profiles of the 44,000 physicians and surgeons licensed to practice in Illinois. The data base enabled anyone to search by a doctor's partial first or last name, city, specialty, keyword, or hospital affiliation, the specialty certifications, legal and disciplinary actions for the past 5 years, and details from physician resumes. Disciplinary listings indicate if the physician was licensed in other states, and provides information about malpractice judgments and claim settlement amounts.

"Several states operate the same type of profiling systems that include medical malpractice and disciplinary information including California, Florida, Idaho, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington," stated Delgado.