Complaints Against Doctors in RI - Significant Backlog Says Watchdog
Friday, July 07, 2017
A member of the Special Commission to study the rules and regulations of the Rhode Island Board of Medical Licensure & Discipline is urging the state to fund more positions, given what he said is a ‘significant and over-burdensome level of back-log in the handling of medical complaints.’
Dean Lees, who was appointed to the Commission in 2016, relayed his concerns, after GoLocal investigations reported on disciplinary actions taken against “Dr. Tad” (license revocation), and Dr. Stephen
Petteruti, both of whom have had extensive exposure on “pay-to-appear” programs on WPRO and WPRI’s The Rhode Show.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“A lot of doctors testified before us on the problems they’re facing -- I was taken aback,” said Lees. “I thought there should be a minimum of three inspectors and there's just one.”
Lees sent the following memo to the Senate Finance Committee in June, requesting that funding be secured specifically for three positions to address the issues identified by the commission.
“It’s only going to get worse,” Lees told GoLocal.
Lees’ Memo
Lees sent the following memo on June 29 to Senate Finance:
"In 2016, I was appointed by Speaker Mattiello to serve on the BMLD to evaluate the concerns and needs of the Department of Health (“DOH”) regarding the handling of investigative medical complaints.
In short, the commission was tasked to assess the fairness of the application of the rules and regulations regarding the discipline of medical professionals and to make recommendations on its’ findings.
Findings:
Significant and over-burdensome level of back-log in the handling of medical complaints.
From 2011-2014, they were over 1,747 complaints averaging over 239 days before even being heard.
In 2015, they were over 900 alone, each averaging 250 days before being heard.
Further, the Commission’s findings articulated that there was a significant level of burdensome and detrimental government bureaucracy on the health and welfare of the patients filing legitimate complaints while also furthering the anxiety of medical professionals not being able to remedy frivolous complaints often leading to litigation against the State for not acting in a timely manner.
Currently, greater than one-third of each case exceeds six months before a hearing occurs.
It’s my strong belief that litigation alone in the near future will easily exceed the cost of funding these critical positions if action is not taken.
Action Needed:
Reinstate and secure funding for the following positions: Hospital Inspector, Health Program Administrator (to address the backlog in regulations), and a Public Health Promotion Specialist to investigate the back log of complaints.
Conclusion:
It is my sincere opinion that the House Finance Committee may not have had received all of the pertinent information when making the decision in not funding these critical positions.
Therefore, I urgently encourage you in reconsidering the actions taken by the House."
Department Responds
Joseph Wendelken with the Department of Health spoke to their position on the matter.
“These positions were not de-funded. They were never funded. They were included in the Governor’s proposed FY18 budget, but not in the House version,” said Wendelken. “The Department of Health had been in support of the addition of these three positions.”
“There are many factors that can impact how long it takes for a case to be resolved. Many of these are out of the Department of Health’s control, such as requests for extensions on response time by the healthcare provider, or accommodating the schedule of the healthcare provider’s attorney,” said Wendelken. “But the process can also be lengthy because the Department of Health is extremely thorough in doing complaint investigations, and we are sure to respect the due process rights of all healthcare providers.”
Previously, DOH has sent out disciplinary actions to the press; the actions are now updated on an online database.
For that reason, I started just flagging specific disciplinary actions for reporters who told me they were interested in particular issues,” said Wendelken. “Of course, we would issue a full press announcement about any disciplinary action related to an immediate threat to public health.”
“Some people are aware of the disciplinary action postings. For those who are not, and who contact us with questions about past disciplinary actions, we direct them to the same search page that I sent to you,” said Wendelken. “The Department of Health has not done an advertising campaign or other kind of promotion related to disciplinary action postings.”
Given the backgrounds of Dr. Tad and Dr. Petteruti, Wendelken weighed in on whether regulatory authorities ought to include reviewing third party marketing by doctors, like the court system has over attorneys.
“Right now statute only gives the Department of Health regulatory authority over healthcare providers and licensed healthcare facilities,” said Wendelken. “Legislative action would be needed to broaden that statute. Questions about whether that statute should be broadened legislatively are probably best directed to the legislature.”
Related Slideshow: Consent Decree DOH and Dr. Tad - 2017
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