Provided by: Jennifer Kirschenbaum, Esq.
August 2, 2018
Question:
Jennifer and Michael, is it a violation of the NPDB rules for a report to be posted to the NPDB without also notifying the subject of the report? If so, is a failure to give timely notice to the individual a justification for either forcing the disputing the response or having it removed entirely?
Dr. T
Answer:
(Michael here) Correct! The NPDB is required (through its own rules) to automatically send, by mail, an unofficial copy of the report with instructions on how to obtain an official copy of the report through the Report Response Service on the NPDB website. The NPDB notifies the subject of a report, at the address provided by the reporting entity, that the report has been submitted. If the subject of a report receives a report with an incorrect address, the subject of a report may update the home or work address, or both, in records maintained by the NPDB. Therefore, if for some reason the reporting entity does not have your correct address, there is a chance you may not receive notification.
The second part of your question is a little more complicated. The NPDB rules to not explicitly state situations where a report may be deleted or modified upon a certain triggering event. However, failure to receive a notification may be grounds for a dispute but again that is not explicitly stated anywhere in the NPDB handbook. You can file a dispute in regards to the report with NPDB, but will have to submit to their dispute resolution policy maintained in the guidebook. You can view the guidebook at the following link https://www.npdb.hrsa.gov/resources/NPDBGuidebook.pdf.
Contact Jennifer (516 747-6700 x. 302; Jennifer@Kirschenbaumesq.com) or me, Michael Foster, Esq. (516 747-6700 x. 308; MFoster@kirschenbaumesq.com) to discuss your circumstances, the benefits of a statement to NPDB and best positioning for posting.
