In the news: Hospitals not reporting practitioners to NPDB

Hospitals are not reporting practitioners to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) as often as they should, claims a new study by Health Research Group, a branch of the consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen.

According to the study, as of December 2007, almost 50% of U.S. hospitals had never reported a privilege sanction to the NPDB. When the NPDB was initiated in September 1990, the federal government estimated that hospitals would submit 5,000 reports annually, while the healthcare industry estimated 10,000 reports per year. 

However, the NPDB only receives an average of 650 reports per year, about one-eighth the government’s estimate and about 1/16th of the industry’s estimate.

Check out the quiz on NPDB reporting on our blog!