Update: Chicago Tribune Discusses Caregiver Database

Posted on July 26, 2011 by mgoldberg
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This article discusses the follow up from the previous article written in the Chicago Tribune discussing Caregivers.

Caregiver database shuffles staffers after accuracy issues

Move follows report on missing disciplinary cases

By Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber

Federal officials have removed the management team overseeing a national database of dangerous or incompetent caregivers after questions were raised about the repository’s accuracy.

The reassignments of the division director and four managers came in response to a ProPublica report last month that found the database was likely missing thousands of serious disciplinary cases against health providers.

Congress ordered up the database more than 20 years ago. It was supposed to provide an alert system for hospitals, flagging them to disciplinary actions taken in any state against nurses, therapists, pharmacists and other licensed health professionals.

It finally became available to hospitals Monday. But it comes with a warning: Federal officials are “currently reviewing the completeness and accuracy of state licensure information.”

The Health Resources and Services Administration, or HRSA, declined Monday to make its administrator and the new director overseeing the database available for interviews. The agency also would not comment on the personnel changes.

But in an internal email sent last week, Mark Pincus, the newly name acting director of the Division of Practitioner Data Banks, confirmed the reassignments. Pincus had led the program from 2004 to 2007.

Pincus replaced Darryl Gray, who told reports last month that his staff “constantly” monitored state regulators’ Web sites to ensure the federal database was complete. Gray did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment Monday.

ProPublica’s review – published in Tribune Newspapers – found that at least 20 states, including Illinois, California, Tennessee, had not adequately reported the sanctions they took as required by federal law.

After reviewing these findings, Mary Wakefield, HRSA’s administrator, conceded the database was incomplete. She ordered an audit, offered technical assistance to states and sent letters to every governor requesting help. In letters, she wrote that agencies that did not report disciplinary actions to the database would be publicized.

State officials say they are taking steps to ensure their records are complete. Many said the federal government had never questioned them about missing records. In Illinois, for example, officials had not reported any disciplinary actions against emergency medical technicians. A spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health said the agency plans to comply in the future.

California agencies overseeing psychiatric technicians and occupational therapists also had not reported disciplinary actions. In the last two years, dozens of psychiatric technicians had their licenses restricted or taken away after serious misconduct.

In addition, many state regulators said reporting to the database is often confusing, making it difficult to meet the federal mandate. One state nursing regulator said she often had a staffer working full time to sort out discrepancies.

Hospitals began using the National Practitioner Data Bank in 1990 to research doctors and dentists. But a series of problems delayed its expansion. It is not open to the public.

ProPublica is an independent, nonprofit investigative newsroom in New York.

Charles.Ornstein@propublica.org