NPDB malpractice reporting loophole

[RiskManager]

Group Seeks to Close Malpractice Reporting 'Loophole' | Medpage Today

This does not just apply to physicians. I have seen this loophole used for all kinds of healthcare professionals subject to NPDB reporting, including nurses. It is most commonly used by large academic or corporate health systems. Sometimes it is used as an inducement for plaintiffs to settle: if you drop the individually-named defendants, or agree that any indemnity payment is made on behalf of the organization, not an individual; we will agree to settle the case. The practical effect of this is that you can have healthcare providers moving from one organization to another and you don't know if they truly had any paid malpractice cases, since a loophole was used to avoid NPDB reports.