When utilizing services from physicians, whether in hospice or elsewhere, you may wish to find out what kind of record the physician has. While settlements with insurance companies do not necessarily reflect the real character of a physician's practice, disciplinary actions taken by a state Medical Board may be taken quite seriously. Settlements to resolve malpractice claims may be done at the insistence of a physician's insurance carrier and may not reflect wrongdoing at all, because insurance companies will pressure a physician to settle, if the cost of settling is less than the cost of going to trial. Physicians are not pleased with this practice, but it is what insurance companies often do, even when the physician is completely innocent of any wrongdoing.

You may wish to check on a physician's record or file a complaint with a state Medical Board. If you experience very serious problems with a physician's treatment of your loved one, you should consult an attorney who specializes in medical cases and file a complaint with the state Medical Board that reviews such cases. We provide addresses of state medical boards below. Problems that are not that serious can be handled by speaking with the physician directly and providing feedback as to the care given.

Agencies responsible for licensing physicians in 40 states and the District of Columbia provide the names of doctors they discipline on their Web sites. The amount of information disclosed varies from state to state, as does the frequency of updates. Some state medical boards that name disciplined physicians on their Web sites still require consumers to contact the agencies directly to receive specific information about the misconduct.

Addresses of State Medical Boards

All material copyright of Hospice Patients Alliance ("HPA") unless otherwise credited.