When you’re talking about your health, you want to find the best care available. Choosing the right doctor or surgeon is critical. Fortunately, there’s plenty of information on doctors and surgeons within your grasp.
Let’s look at the ways you can easily investigate potential physicians in Michigan and nationwide.
Check the Physician’s State Credentials and Confirm Surgical Certification
The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) will let you know if the surgeon is licensed in Michigan. You can go to fsmb.org and click on Consumer Resources and use the tool, “Learn About Your Physician.”
To determine whether a surgeon is board certified or eligible in a particular specialty, check with the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). Note that “board certified” means a physician has undergone considerable training in a specialty and passed a rigorous exam.
The term “board eligible” means the doctor has completed the appropriate residency but hasn’t yet passed the test. While its fine for new doctors to be board eligible because they have several years to take the test; however, the ABMS has ruled that physicians who try to use the term “board eligible” for their entire careers face penalties.
The Michigan Professional Licensing User System (MiPLUS) is the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Professional Licensing’s online licensing and regulatory database application for health and occupational professionals in Michigan. You can search for a Michigan doctor’s license and status (current, lapsed, suspended, or revoked) at the state’s website.
The licensing and registration records are made available on the website to provide immediate access to information. The information is updated once a day. Note that a status of “Temporary Foreign Waiver” indicates that the license was issued during the COVID-19 emergency to someone holding a license in a foreign country and the license will be null and void when the emergency is over despite the expiration date listed in this search. Also, a status of “Temporary Emergency” indicates the license was issued during the pandemic to an individual who was unable to take the required exam for licensure. This license will be null and void six months after the emergency is declared over, unless they meet all the requirements for licensure during that six-month time period, despite the expiration date listed in this search.
Look For Any Professional Reprimands
It’s important to see if a doctor has been sanctioned by a professional licensing board. Michigan’s Regulatory and Compliance Division in the Bureau of Professional Licensing frequently publishes a Disciplinary Action Report. This report lists the disciplinary actions taken against health and occupational licensees who are licensed and regulated by the various health and occupational boards within the Licensing Division in Michigan. The report also includes updated information regarding licensees who have appealed the Board’s action to a higher court. The report includes the names of the licensee, their professional license number, the type of disciplinary action taken, the effective date of the action and the general nature of the complaint. You can find the reports at their website.
Check Doctor Ratings
Healthgrades and Vitals have databases have websites where they rate surgeons and provide information on the number of procedures and complication rates. Healthgrades has a profile for every doctor in the U.S.
SurgeonRatings.org from the nonprofit group Consumers’ Checkbook provides a more comprehensive analysis that includes more than five million operations performed by 50,000 surgeons. It compares surgeons’ results for 12 types of surgery.
Speak With An Experienced Michigan Medical Malpractice Attorney
For a free consultation with an experienced medical malpractice attorney in Michigan, contact Buchanan Firm.
Our firm proudly serves people all across Michigan, including major cities like Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Detroit, Lansing, Holland, St. Joe, and Ann Arbor, and rural towns such as Lowell, Ada, Fremont, Newaygo, Grand Haven, Rockford, and Cedar Springs. We will meet you after hours, at home, or in the hospital to accommodate you.
Contact us today!