The National Practitioner Data Bank: the first 18 months.
In response to a need for information on the quality of professional practice and a perceived threat to the preservation of the peer review process, as well as to concern about the cost to society of incompetent physicians, Congress passed the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986. The Act established a legal basis for protecting peer review and quality assurance activities. It also established a national reporting system, the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), which is intended to ensure that appropriate information is available to be used in the peer review process.
Puryear
M A
MA
Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation, Health Resources and Services Administration, Rockville, MD.
Politzer
R M
RM
Anderson
J
J
Mullan
F
F
D008007:Licensure, Medical; D008318:Malpractice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D008504:Medical Staff Privileges / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D016749:National Practitioner Data Bank / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010380:Peer Review / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014481:United States; D014488:United States Health Resources and Services Administration