Letter to HHS Secretary Regarding the Agency’s Decision Requiring Reporting of All HHS Malpractice Payments to the National Practitioner Data Bank
When it comes to its own doctors and other health care providers, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been breaking its own policy requiring all malpractice payments to be reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB). Public Citizen applauds the recent determination by HHS that reaffirmed a 1990 HHS policy requiring that all malpractice payments made as a result of a claim or suit filed against the U.S. government related to care provided by HHS health care practitioners be reported to the NPDB. However, we have some concerns regarding the HHS plan for implementation of the policy decision.