Rural hospitals' experience with the National Practitioner Data Bank.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined hospital administrators' experiences with the National Practitioner Data Bank.


METHODS
One hundred forty-nine rural hospital administrators completed questionnaires assessing their perceptions of the data bank.


RESULTS
Nearly 90% of respondents rated the data bank as an important source of information for credentialing. Three percent indicated it had directly affected privileging decisions; 43% and 34%, respectively, believed the costs exceeded or equaled the benefits. Twenty percent reported changes that could decrease disciplinary action reports to the data bank.


CONCLUSIONS
While the National Practitioner Data Bank is an important source of information to rural hospitals, it may, affect few credentialing decisions and motivate behavioral changes that could have a paradoxical effect on quality assurance.
Neighbor
W E
WE
Department of Family Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle 98195, USA.
Baldwin
L M
LM
West
P A
PA
Hart
L G
LG
D003258:Consumer Behavior; D003406:Credentialing; D006740:Hospital Administrators; D016749:National Practitioner Data Bank; D010380:Peer Review; D011786:Quality Control; D012423:Rural Health; D014481:United States