Website Increases Transparency for Health Care Consumers
Last week, Governor Pat Quinns office launched a website to increase transparency in health care for Illinois citizens. The physician profile website is database that provides patients with invaluable information about health care providers. The website is maintained by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR).
Information is power and we want to make sure that people get the information they need to make informed decisions about the doctors who treat them, Governor Quinn stated in a recent press release. This online tool will provide valuable assistance for patients as they choose health care providers for their families.
Professional and disciplinary backgrounds of more than 46,000 physicians and surgeons licensed to practice in Illinois are featured on the website.
The new website replaces the Illinois original physician profile website, which was available between 2008 and 2010 and was removed as part of a Supreme Court decision. The Patients' Right to Know Act (House Bill 105), signed into law by the Gov. Quinn earlier this year, restored Illinois consumers right to access this important health care information.
This legislation is needed even more today than it was in 2008, especially as more doctors are receiving performance-based pay, State Rep. Mary Flowers (D-31), House sponsor of HB 105, said. It provides valuable information to patients when they go to select a health care provider.
Health care providers can be searched by name, specialty, geographic region or hospital affiliation. The website also allows individuals to compare doctors who have similar specialties.
More than 85 percent of all licensed physicians and surgeons have provided the information necessary to create or update their profiles. Patients can search the location and scope of practice; the type of insurance the physician accepts; specialties and certifications; legal and disciplinary actions taken against the physician; educational background; and professional activities or honors.
According to Brent Adams, Secretary of Financial and Professional Regulations, citizens yearn for information about their health care providers.
Everyone is entitled to providing informed consent to medical treatment not just being informed as to the procedure or medication, but also being informed as to who is recommending that course of treatment, Adams stated in the release.
To find a physicians profile, visit the IDFPRs website: www.idfpr.com, or visit DoctorInfo.illinois.gov.
Thelma Sardin, Governors office press release
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