News Release — November 8, 2004

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November 8, 2004

Medical Board of California Poised to Implement New
Enforcement Program Monitor Recommendations

Enforcement monitor report designed to improve consumer protection efforts
under recent legislation authored by State Senator Liz Figueroa

SACRAMENTO—The Medical Board of California recently reviewed recommendations of a legislatively mandated report by Enforcement Program Monitor Julie D'Angelo Fellmeth, and has already voted unanimously to seek a fee increase that would permit the board to charge up to $400 annually (currently, licensing fees are $300 annually). This increase, strongly recommended in the report, would allow the board to restore enforcement positions lost through budget cuts over the last three years. Medical Board staff has begun work on many of the specific recommendations from the report. In addition, the board immediately referred to its Enforcement Committee, comprised of public and physician members, the task of reviewing and implementing the recommendations in greater detail. The Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee will use this report as the basis for the board's sunset review hearing, scheduled for December 9, 2004.

"The mission of the Medical Board of California is protection of healthcare consumers. We welcome the carefully considered recommendations from Ms. D'Angelo Fellmeth and her team," said Board President Mitchell Karlan, M.D. "As a public protection agency, the Medical Board's top priority is maintaining high standards for the licensing and discipline of the medical profession in California. We are committed to educating and protecting consumers, and the Enforcement Program monitor's recommendations are another opportunity to improve our Enforcement Program to better serve patients and healthcare consumers in this state."

The report, mandated by SB 1950 (Figueroa, Chapter 1085, Statutes of 2002), required the director of the Department of Consumer Affairs to appoint a Medical Board of California Enforcement Program monitor. The monitor's duty is "to.evaluate the disciplinary system and procedures of the board, making as (her) highest priority the reform and reengineering of the board's enforcement program and operations and the improvement of the overall efficiency of the board's disciplinary system." Ms. D'Angelo Fellmeth will issue a total of two reports; the final will be prior to November 1, 2005.

The initial report found generally that the enforcement process has been slowed primarily because current board resources are inadequate. This is due to recent cutbacks in staffing and funding resulting from hiring freezes and because licensing fees, which fund the board, have not been raised in a decade. As noted, recommendations include replacing 29 lost enforcement positions at the Medical Board by increasing the $600 license renewal fee physicians pay every two years.

While the legislatively mandated goal for case investigation (when consumers make a complaint) is an average of no more than six months, the report found in fiscal year '03-'04, the average case processing time was 261 days. Also noted in the report is the complex nature of the board's investigations, along with difficulties encountered by staff in obtaining medical records from physicians, and the time spent reviewing cases by the board's medical consultants and specialty reviewers (an average of over two months in both instances). High investigator turnover, as some competing agencies offer better benefits and pay to investigators, was another factor causing delays in processing cases.

Ms. D'Angelo Fellmeth, the Medical Board's enforcement monitor and administrative director of the Center for Public Interest Law, stated, "We are pleased with the high degree of cooperation our team received from the board and its staff during our review. We look forward to our continuing work to help the Medical Board fulfill its consumer protection mission by improving the quality of physician regulation and patient care in California." For a copy of the report's executive summary, please contact the Executive Office of the Medical Board at (916) 263-2389.

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The mission of the Medical Board is to protect healthcare consumers through the proper licensing and regulation of physicians and surgeons and certain allied healthcare professions and through the vigorous, objective enforcement of the Medical Practice Act.

If you have a question or complaint about the healthcare you are receiving, the board encourages you to visit its Web site at www.caldocinfo.ca.gov or for questions call the Consumer Information Line at (916) 263-2382, or with complaints call (800) 633-2322.

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