Sec. 20-13j. Profiles on physicians, advanced practice registered nurses and other health care providers. Public availability.

(a) For the purposes of this section:

(1) “Department” means the Department of Public Health;

(2) “Other health care provider” means: (A) A dentist licensed under chapter 379; (B) a chiropractor licensed under chapter 372; (C) an optometrist licensed under chapter 380; (D) a podiatrist licensed under chapter 375; (E) a naturopath licensed under chapter 373; (F) a dental hygienist licensed under chapter 379a; or (G) a physical therapist licensed under chapter 376;

(3) “Advanced practice registered nurse” means an advanced practice registered nurse licensed under chapter 378; and

(4) “Physician” means a physician licensed under this chapter.

(b) The department, after consultation with the Connecticut Medical Examining Board, the Connecticut State Medical Society, or any other appropriate state board, shall:

(1) Collect the following information to create an individual profile on each physician and advanced practice registered nurse for dissemination to the public; and

(2) Within available appropriations, collect the following information to create an individual profile on each other health care provider for dissemination to the public:

(A) The name of the medical or dental school, chiropractic college, school or college of optometry, school or college of chiropody or podiatry, school or college of naturopathy, school of dental hygiene, school of physical therapy or other school or institution giving instruction in the healing arts attended by the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider and the date of graduation;

(B) The site, training, discipline and inclusive dates of any completed postgraduate education or other professional education required pursuant to the applicable licensure section of the general statutes;

(C) The area of the physician’s, advanced practice registered nurse's or other health care provider's practice specialty;

(D) The address of the physician’s, advanced practice registered nurse's or other health care provider's primary practice location or primary practice locations, if more than one;

(E) A list of languages, other than English, spoken at the physician’s, advanced practice registered nurse's or other health care provider's primary practice locations;

(F) An indication of any disciplinary action taken against the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider by the department, the appropriate state board or any professional licensing or disciplinary body in another jurisdiction;

(G) Any current certifications issued to the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider by a specialty board of the profession;

(H) The hospitals and nursing homes at which the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider has been granted privileges;

(I) Any appointments of the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider to a Connecticut medical school faculty and an indication as to whether the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider has current responsibility for graduate medical education;

(J) A listing of the physician’s, advanced practice registered nurse's or other health care provider's publications in peer-reviewed literature;

(K) A listing of the physician’s, advanced practice registered nurse's or other health care provider's professional services, activities and awards;

(L) Any hospital disciplinary actions against the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider that resulted, within the past ten years, in the termination or revocation of the physician’s, advanced practice registered nurse's or other health care provider's hospital privileges for a professional disciplinary cause or reason, or the resignation from, or nonrenewal of, professional staff membership or the restriction of privileges at a hospital taken in lieu of or in settlement of a pending disciplinary case related to professional competence in such hospital;

(M) A description of any criminal conviction of the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider for a felony within the last ten years. For the purposes of this subdivision, a physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider shall be deemed to be convicted of a felony if the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider pleaded guilty or was found or adjudged guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction or has been convicted of a felony by the entry of a plea of nolo contendere;

(N) To the extent available, and consistent with the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, all professional malpractice court judgments and all professional malpractice arbitration awards against the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider in which a payment was awarded to a complaining party during the last ten years, and all settlements of professional malpractice claims against the physician, advanced practice registered nurse and other health care provider in which a payment was made to a complaining party within the last ten years;

(O) An indication as to whether the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider is actively involved in patient care;

(P) An indication as to whether the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider provides primary care services and, for advanced practice registered nurses, an indication as to whether the advanced practice registered nurse is practicing independently or in collaboration with a physician pursuant to a collaborative agreement; and

(Q) The name of the physician’s, advanced practice registered nurse's or other health care provider's professional liability insurance carrier.

(c) Any report of a professional malpractice judgment or award against a physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider made under subparagraph (N) of subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of this section shall comply with the following: (1) Dispositions of paid claims shall be reported in a minimum of three graduated categories indicating the level of significance of the award or settlement; (2) information concerning paid professional malpractice claims shall be placed in context by comparing an individual physician’s, advanced practice registered nurse's or other health care provider's professional malpractice judgments, awards and settlements to the experience of other physicians, advanced practice registered nurses and other health care providers licensed in Connecticut who perform procedures and treat patients with a similar degree of risk; (3) all judgment award and settlement information reported shall be limited to amounts actually paid by or on behalf of the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider; and (4) comparisons of professional malpractice payment data shall be accompanied by (A) an explanation of the fact that physicians, advanced practice registered nurses and other health care providers treating certain patients and performing certain procedures are more likely to be the subject of litigation than others and that the comparison given is for physicians, advanced practice registered nurses and other health care providers who perform procedures and treat patients with a similar degree of risk; (B) a statement that the report reflects data for the last ten years and the recipient should take into account the number of years the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider has been in practice when considering the data; (C) an explanation that an incident giving rise to a professional malpractice claim may have occurred years before any payment was made due to the time lawsuits take to move through the legal system; (D) an explanation of the effect of treating high-risk patients on a physician’s, advanced practice registered nurse's or other health care provider's professional malpractice history; and (E) an explanation that professional malpractice cases may be settled for reasons other than liability and that settlements are sometimes made by the insurer without the physician’s, advanced practice registered nurse's or other health care provider's consent. Information concerning all settlements shall be accompanied by the following statement: “Settlement of a claim may occur for a variety of reasons that do not necessarily reflect negatively on the professional competence or conduct of the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider. A payment in settlement of a professional malpractice action or claim should not be construed as creating a presumption that professional malpractice has occurred.”.

(d) Pending professional malpractice claims against a physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider and actual amounts paid by or on behalf of a physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider in connection with a professional malpractice judgment, award or settlement shall not be disclosed by the department to the public. This subsection shall not be construed to prevent the department from investigating and disciplining a physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider on the basis of professional malpractice claims that are pending.

(e) Prior to the initial release of a physician’s, advanced practice registered nurse's or other health care provider's profile to the public, the department shall provide the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider with a copy of the physician’s, advanced practice registered nurse's or other health care provider's profile. Additionally, any amendments or modifications to the profile that were not supplied by the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider or not generated by the department itself shall be provided to the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider for review prior to release to the public. A physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider shall have sixty days from the date the department mails or delivers the prepublication copy to dispute the accuracy of any information that the department proposes to include in such profile and to submit a written statement setting forth the basis for such dispute. If a physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider does not notify the department that the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider disputes the accuracy of such information within such sixty-day period, the department shall make the profile available to the public and the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider shall be deemed to have approved the profile and all information contained in the profile. If a physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider notifies the department that the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider disputes the accuracy of such information in accordance with this subsection, the physician’s, advanced practice registered nurse's or other health care provider's profile shall be released to the public without the disputed information, but with a statement to the effect that information in the identified category is currently the subject of a dispute and is therefore not currently available. Not later than thirty days after the department's receipt of notice of a dispute, the department shall review any information submitted by the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider in support of such dispute and determine whether to amend the information contained in the profile. In the event that the department determines not to amend the disputed information, the disputed information shall be included in the profile with a statement that such information is disputed by the physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider.

(f) A physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider may elect to have the physician’s, advanced practice registered nurse's or other health care provider's profile omit information provided pursuant to subparagraphs (I) to (K), inclusive, of subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of this section. In collecting information for such profiles and in the dissemination of such profiles, the department shall inform physicians, advanced practice registered nurses and other health care providers that they may choose not to provide the information described in said subparagraphs (I) to (K), inclusive.

(g) Each profile created pursuant to this section shall include the following statement: “This profile contains information that may be used as a starting point in evaluating a physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider. This profile should not, however, be your sole basis for selecting a physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider.”.

(h) The department shall maintain a web site on the Internet for use by the public in obtaining profiles of physicians, advanced practice registered nurses and other health care providers.

(i) No state law that would otherwise prohibit, limit or penalize disclosure of information about a physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider shall apply to disclosure of information required by this section.

(j) All information provided by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider pursuant to this section shall be subject to the penalty for false statement under section 53a-157b.

(k) Except for the information in subparagraphs (A), (B), (J) and (K) of subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of this section, a physician, advanced practice registered nurse or other health care provider shall notify the department of any changes to the information required in subsection (b) of this section not later than sixty days after such change.

(P.A. 99-284, S. 33; P.A. 05-275, S. 22, 23; P.A. 08-109, S. 1; P.A. 14-217, S. 158.)

History: P.A. 05-275 amended Subsec. (b) by making a technical change, expanding Subdiv. (6) to require disclosure of disciplinary actions taken against physicians by any professional licensing or disciplinary body in another jurisdiction, adding Subdiv. (15) to require indication as to whether physician is actively involved in patient care, and adding Subdiv. (16) to require profile to include name of physician's professional liability insurance carrier, and amended Subsec. (k) by requiring physicians to report any changes or updates in mandatory reporting information, except for information specified in Subdivs. (1), (2), (10) and (11) of Subsec. (b); P.A. 08-109 amended Subsec. (a) by designating existing provision as Subdiv. (1), deleting definition of “physician” and adding Subdiv. (2) defining “health care provider” and substantially revised Subsecs. (b) to (k) to include additional health care providers, make conforming changes to information required to be collected by Department of Public Health and make technical changes, effective January 1, 2010; P.A. 14-217 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “Health care provider” with “Other health care provider”, deleting former Subpara. (A) re physician, redesignating existing Subparas. (B) to (G) as Subparas. (A) to (F), deleting former Subpara. (H) re advanced practice registered nurse and redesignating existing Subpara. (I) as Subpara. (G) in Subdiv. (2), adding Subdiv. (3) defining “advanced practice registered nurse” and adding Subdiv. (4) defining “physician”, amended Subsec. (b) by designating existing provisions re individual profile as new Subdiv. (2), adding new Subdiv. (1) re individual profiles on physicians and advanced practice registered nurses, redesignating existing Subdivs. (1) to (15) as Subparas. (A) to (O), adding Subpara. (P) re provision of primary care services and independent or collaborative practice and redesignating existing Subdiv. (16) as Subpara. (Q), and made technical and conforming changes throughout.