Records of Health Worker Misdeeds Kept Secret
As reported by National Public Radio:
Twenty-two years ago, the federal government started keeping a list of nurses, nurse aides, pharmacists and pharmacy aides who’ve been disciplined by state licensing boards. It’s called the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank.
But hospitals and nursing homes aren’t allowed to see the database…. By law, it was supposed to be open to hospitals and nursing homes when they hire staff and want to run a background check. But the Department of Health and Human Services never completed the regulation implementing the law.
Why does this not surprise me?
It’s hard to understand why HHS goes to the expense of maintaining a list that nobody is allowed to see.