BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1886
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1886 (Eggman)
As Amended June 26, 2014
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |50-25|(May 29, 2014) |SENATE: |30-3 |(August 7, |
| | | | | |2014) |
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Original Committee Reference: B., P. & C.P.
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 (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subsequently withdrawn or dismissed.
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 10 years, be posted as specified.
The Senate amendments :
AB 1886
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1)Specify that the MBC shall post information on current and
former licensees.
2)Require MBC to post whether a licensee is presently in good
standing.
3)Make technical changes.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
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 10
years, reduces the amount of time from 10 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 to 40 records per month, which equates
to 350 to 400 records per year.
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
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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 for all current and former licensees 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) Whether or not a licensee is presently in good
standing;
v) Any felony convictions; and,
vi) 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
exculpatory information submitted by the licensee, as
specified.
AB 1886
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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 10, 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:
0004502