NEWARK - Public Citizen, a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., has ranked New Jersey first in a survey of the content and user-friendliness of doctor disciplinary information found on state medical board Web sites, Attorney General Stuart Rabner and Consumer Affairs Acting Director Stephen B. Nolan announced today.

"I am pleased that Public Citizen has recognized the quality of the Board of Medical Examiners' website," said Attorney General Rabner. "The site is a great resource for consumers looking for information about physicians so they can make an informed choice when selecting a health care provider." State medical boards are responsible for taking action against physician misconduct and making information about those disciplinary actions available to the public. The Public Citizen report, issued today, considered eight criteria when conducting their survey: types of physician-identifying information, board disciplinary action information, disciplinary actions taken by hospitals, disciplinary actions taken by the federal government (Medicare, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Food and Drug Administration), malpractice information, criminal conviction information, Web Site search capabilities and other information.

The 10 states receiving the highest overall scores (out of 100) for their sites are: New Jersey (83.7 points), Virginia (79.2), Massachusetts (79.1), New York (70.9), Vermont - medical only (70.9), Georgia (68.7), California - medical only (68.0), Idaho (65.0), Florida - osteopathy only (64.1); and Florida - medical only (64.1). The 10 states receiving the lowest scores are: North Dakota (12.3), New Mexico - osteopathy only (12.5), West Virginia - osteopathy only (13.0), Louisiana (14.9), South Dakota (16.6), Arkansas (16.9), Alaska (18.4), Indiana (20.1), Montana (20.3); and Minnesota (20.5).

"The BME website gives consumers some of the tools that they need to make an informed decision about a doctor," said Acting Director Nolan. "We hope that consumers use this free service often and let their friends know about it."

The Division of Consumer Affairs, a division of the Attorney General's office, oversees the Board of Medical Examiners in addition to many other health-related boards and committees.

The Division also provides a unique consumer protection Web site which lists information about the State's medical doctors, podiatrists and optometrists. The site, www.njdoctorlist.org, allows consumers to search for a particular doctor using their name, or generate a list of doctors by searching according to field of medicine, hospital affiliation or office location. The site also allows you to find out about a doctor's education, training and medical practice, whether they speak a certain language or has an office accessible to persons with disabilities, or whether they have been the subject of any disciplinary actions or made any malpractice payments in the last five years.

The Public Citizen report is available at www.citizen.org and select Press Room. The New Jersey board of Medical Examiners' website is www.state.nj.us/lps/ca/bme.

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