BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1886
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1886 (Eggman)
As Amended May 28, 2014
Majority vote
BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS 9-4
APPROPRIATIONS 11-5
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|Ayes:|Bonilla, Bocanegra, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, |
| |Campos, Dickinson, | |Bradford, |
| |Eggman, Holden, Mullin, | |Ian Calderon, Campos, |
| |Skinner, Ting | |Eggman, Gomez, Holden, |
| | | |Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Weber |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Jones, Hagman, |Nays:|Bigelow, Donnelly, Jones, |
| |Maienschein, Wilk | |Linder, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Recasts and revises current law regarding the Internet
posting of physician and surgeon licensee information.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Recasts and revises current law regarding Internet posting of
physician and surgeon licensee information.
2)Requires the following disciplinary information regarding a
licensee to be posted on the Medical Board of California's
(MBC) Web site for as long as that information is public:
a) A revocation, suspension, probation, surrender of a
license by the licensee in relation to a disciplinary
action or investigation, or other equivalent action taken
against the licensee by MBC or a board of another state or
jurisdiction, as specified;
b) A malpractice judgment or arbitration award; and,
c) Any misdemeanor conviction that results in a
disciplinary action or an accusation that is not
subsequently withdrawn or dismissed.
AB 1886
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3)Require the posting of citations issued in the last three
years that have not been resolved or appealed within 30 days,
and citations issued within the last three years that have
been resolved by payment of the administrative fine or
compliance with the order of abatement.
4)Require that settlement information from the last five years,
rather than the last ten years, be posted as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, potential one-time staff workload and reprogramming
costs to reconfigure information displayed on the MBC's Web site
and develop processes and procedures related to the display and
removal of information, not likely to exceed $50,000 (Contingent
Fund of the MBC). Ongoing costs should be minor.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of this bill. This bill recasts and revises current
law regarding Internet posting of physician and surgeon
licensee information. This bill will require MBC to post
indefinitely on its Web site certain data related to physician
and surgeon discipline (a revocation, suspension, probation,
surrender of a license by the licensee in relation to a
disciplinary action or investigation, or other equivalent
action taken against the licensee by MBC or a board of another
state or jurisdiction) that is currently taken down after ten
years, reduces the amount of time from ten years to three
years for posting of citation information, and reduces the
amount of time from ten years to five years for posting
settlement information. This bill is sponsored by MBC.
2)Ongoing removal of public disciplinary records from MBC Web
site. Current law was amended in 2003 to require MBC to
remove certain public information from its Web site after 10
years, and MBC began removing these documents in 2013.
On January 1, 2013, MBC had to remove approximately 6,900
records from its Web site due to the 10-year limit, and
continues to remove 30-40 records per month, which equates to
350-400 records per year.
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MBC will return the applicable records to its Web site should
this bill be enacted.
3)Differences in disclosure between public records and the MBC
Web site. The approach taken by this bill is echoed in
recommendations from MBC's 2013 Sunset Review report, in which
Senate staff recommended that the 10-year posting requirement
be removed "in order to ensure transparency to the public."
The California Research Bureau also recommended this change in
their 2008 report, "Physician Misconduct and Public Disclosure
Practices at the Medical Board of California."
Although MBC posts disclaimers about the availability and
extent of information on its Web site, consumers may
reasonably believe that the MBC Web site presents all the
publicly available information on a physician and surgeon's
license. As a result, consumers may be misled into believing
- incorrectly - that some physicians have no record of
discipline. This bill would help rectify that discrepancy by
putting more - but not all - public disciplinary information
online.
This bill, in conjunction with current law, would require
information posted as follows:
a) The following disciplinary information will be posted
for as long as the information is public:
i) A revocation, suspension, probation, surrender of a
license by the licensee in relation to a disciplinary
action or investigation, or other equivalent action taken
against the licensee by MBC or a board of another state
or jurisdiction, as specified;
ii) A malpractice judgment or arbitration award;
iii) Any misdemeanor conviction that results in a
disciplinary action or an accusation that is not
subsequently withdrawn or dismissed;
iv) Any felony convictions; and,
v) Any hospital disciplinary actions that resulted in
the termination or revocation of a licensee's hospital
staff privileges for a medical disciplinary cause or
reason, and information about additional explanatory or
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exculpatory information submitted by the licensee, as
specified.
b) The following would remain posted for as long as
licensee is subject to them:
i) Current accusations filed by the Attorney General,
including those on appeal;
ii) Temporary restraining orders; and,
iii) Interim restraining orders.
c) The following information would be posted as follows:
i) Licensees would have a grace period of 30 days to
resolve a citation, and citations issued within three
years would be posted;
ii) A public letter of reprimand would be removed after
10 years.
iii) A licensee's current American Board of Medical
Specialties certification or MBC equivalent, as certified
by MBC, and approved postgraduate training.
iv) Settlement information would be posted for five
years, instead of ten, as specified.
d) This bill no longer requires MBC to determine and post
whether a licensee is in "good standing."
Analysis Prepared by : Sarah Huchel / B., P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301
FN:
0003902