Logging on to better surgeons

Gov. George Pataki signed the Patient Health Information and Quality Improvement Act in 2000, which requires registered physicians in New York State to make public details of their medical education and professional histories, including information about any actions taken against them. Members of the public can access the physician profiles by logging on to www.nydoctorprofile.com.
The law came about after years of campaigning by Howard Beach resident Patricia Donnelly, whose four-year-old grandson Harry died on the operating table during a routine operation to remove adenoids and place tubes in his ears in 1997.
Since its inception, the physician profile website has received just over three million hits.
“We have more than 19 million people in New York State, of which maybe 20 percent knew about this,” according to 68-year-old Donnelly.
“What’s the point in having this service if no one knows about it?”
Michael Sachs, the doctor who performed Cregan’s surgery in his Manhattan office, has made 33 malpractice payments within the last decade and has been prohibited from performing certain complex nasal procedures without supervision – information available on the Web site.
Following a recent article in the Echo in which Donnelly called for increased awareness of the website, representatives from the New York State Department of Health contacted her to find out how she thought they could better promote the Web site and phone line. The service is currently advertised through posters in medical clinics and hospitals.
“I said they needed to do radio and television ads – they’re the two most powerful ways,” according to Donnelly.
“That was in August. I figured the most I’d wait was two months if you don’t hear it by October, I’d have to step things up,” she said. “They have agreed to do it. But they didn’t give me a time limit – that’s what I should have gotten. Two months should be enough.”
When contacted by the Irish Echo, Department of Health spokesperson Robert Kenny said: “We’re always looking for ways to increase public awareness of our services. There are things we may pursue.” The department gave no indication as to when the advertising campaign would begin or what format it would take.
In the meantime, Donnelly urges people who are aware of the service to use it.
“People are very trusting; they need to start looking up their doctors records,” she said. “People are dying needlessly because of the incompetence of some doctors.”
For more information about the New York State Department of Health physician profiling service, log on to www.nydoctorprofile.com or call 1-888-338-6999. Lines are open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Calls are toll free.