News

Ed. Update:

Question: A reader’s question about the use of records of state disciplinary actions against doctors goes to the real problem. “I can’t imagine asking a doctor about this. How else could I check this out?” (That was what I had suggested below.)

Answer: You can call the office which is shown to be the keeper of these records, usually Medical Licensing, and ask a question about this type of disciplinary action. How common is the one you are concerned about? On a scale of 1-5, 5 being worst, how would the state official rate this error?  You get the information in a neutral way, with no doctor’s name involved. You get an idea of how common this kind of action is in your state. If the person to whom you are speaking will rate it on the 1-5 scale, you know immediately whether it should concern you or not. Of course, those staffs are under no obligation to do that but it cannot hurt to ask. If, after asking these questions about a disciplinary action, you still are uneasy, you should look for another doctor. I do agree that many people would not be comfortable asking questions about disciplinary actions—-I know plenty who are. This was my oversight.

Thanks to the reader who raised this point.

CC

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Ed. Note: Sunshine Week. org is a non-profit organization dedicated to assessing how open state records are for its citizens. With online access becoming more important, access to records should be easier for any resident with a computer to find.

This is the first report of its kind, according to the non-profit.

See how your state is doing.

Understand that many states are continuously adding records, so, in one sense, this non-profit is chasing a moving target. However, access to open records is critical, and this is a useful report card on how starts are performing.

Below you will find the full news release from its study of individual state governments and their performance.

For TPR readers, access to information about  disciplinary actions against physicians (47 states), hospitals and nursing homes is important. Access to that information was part of what this project examined. (Ed. Note: Doctor disciplinary actions are not uncommon. What was this for? Or, what was the penalty? If your doctor’s record includes one or more, discuss them with the physician directly.)

In addition, copies of death certificates are essential to family members who must provide proof of death to receive benefits, settle estates, etc. The fewest states offered those. Death certificates appear to be a revenue source for many states. That should not be allowed, says the non-profit.

Sunshine Week.org

“The Sunshine Week 2009 Survey of State Government Information online found that while more and more government records are being posted online, some of the most important information is being left offline. And in some cases governments are charging taxpayers to access records that they already paid for, such as death certificates. (Emphasis added)

“Teams of surveyors scanned government Web sites in every U.S. state to look for 20 different kinds of public records. The results were released today at the start of Sunshine Week 2009, which runs March 15-21. The study was developed by Sunshine Week, the American Society of Newspaper Editors’ Freedom of Information Committee, the National Freedom of Information Coalition, and the Society of Professional Journalists’ FOI Committee.

“Digital technologies can be a great catalyst for democracy, but the state of access today is quite uneven,” said Charles N. Davis, executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. “The future of Freedom of Information is online access, and states have a long way to go to fulfill the promise of electronic self-governance.”

What Measures Matter?

“Using a standardized worksheet surveyors rated each section on its usability, looking at factors such as whether the information was clearly linked, if full reports or only summaries were available, whether viewing and/or downloading was free, and whether the data were current.

“The categories for the survey were selected for generally serving the overall public good — the kind of information people need for their own health and well-being and that of the community. The categories were: death certificates, financial disclosures, audit reports, project expenditures, department of transportation projects, bridge inspection reports, fictitious registration of business names, disciplinary actions against attorneys, disciplinary actions against medical physicians, hospital inspection reports, nursing home inspection reports, child care center inspection reports, statewide school test scores, teacher certifications, school building inspections, school bus inspections, gas pump overcharges, consumer complaints against businesses, environmental citations, and campaign finance information. “(Emphasis added)

What Are the Major Findings?

“The information least likely to be found online were death certificates, found on the Web sites of only five states, and gas pump overcharge records, available online in eight. Also infrequently posted online were schools’ building inspections and/or safety ratings, which are posted by only nine states, and school bus inspection reports, which only 13 states posted online. (Emphasis added)

“Information most frequently found online were statewide school test scores and DOT projects/contracts, online in 50 and 48 states, respectively. Close behind was campaign data, reported in 47 of the 50 states; disciplinary actions against medical physicians, 47 states; and financial audits, 44 states.(Emphasis added)

Death certificates are apparently a revenue source for many states, as they charge relatives and “legitimately” interested parties for copies of the records, or farm out the work to a third-party service such as VitalChek. Some states provide historical access online to older death certificates, mostly prior to 1960, although there generally is a fee for hard copies. (Emphasis added)

The only state found to provide information online in all the categories surveyed was Texas. New Jersey was a close second with 18.(Emphasis added)

The state with the least information online was Mississippi. It posted only DOT contracts and projects, fictitious business name registrations, statewide school test scores, and political campaign contributions and expenses. Though it did have some information about hospitals and nursing homes, these were perfunctory lists, not inspection reports, or links to other sites. (Emphasis added)

“This study shows that, while a lot of government information is available online, many states lag in providing important information that people care about,” said David Cuillier, Freedom of Information Committee chairman for the Society of Professional Journalists. “People should be able to find inspection records for their schools online. And the government shouldn’t be charging people for death certificates and other records.”

“The Sunshine Week surveyors discovered some states that are doing a fantastic job of providing information to the public; some are outstanding only in certain categories. The survey teams also found some states weren’t so good, and others that are working on getting better.

“Further, many states are constantly putting more information online, making any kind of survey a moving target. In Alabama, a whole category that hadn’t been online when the survey was conducted was up by the time this report was written just a few weeks later. In the wake of the resignation of a cabinet official over income from speaking fees, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger just March 6 issued a memo to increase transparency and accountability of his staff, agency secretaries and department directors by requiring that their financial forms, due April 1, be posted in the governor’s Web site. And, in South Dakota, on March 11, the state legislature completed a thorough overhaul of public records laws, which included requirements for information to be posted and searchable online.

“So although it’s comprehensive, this report is only a snapshot of the nationwide situation. It’s not a statistical dissection, and should be viewed as the subjective analysis that it is, explained Sunshine Week Coordinator Debra Gersh Hernandez. Is the information easy to find online? Maybe it’s “yes” to me and “no” to you. In other cases, a simple “yes” or “no” answer doesn’t really explain what’s there. For example: Are contracts online? Well, maybe some are and some aren’t. In each case we made our best judgment call based on information from the surveyors in the field. Generally (or perhaps generously), if some information was posted in a usable fashion, the state got credit for having something up.

“What follows is an overview of survey results from 50 states. Many surveyors and other participants went deeper in their analysis, looking at additional state categories and local Web sites, as well as specialized federal agencies. Links to that information can be found at the end of this report.

“In addition, there is a comprehensive related report by graduate journalism students at the University of Missouri, who analyzed content on federal government sites.

“The state government surveys were conducted by newspaper and broadcast journalists, journalism students, state press associations, and reporters and editors from The Associated Press. Several participants went the extra cyber-mile and helped complete surveys outside their own states.

“In some cases where states did not post information directly, they provided links to other sites. This included linking to the state bar association for disciplinary action against attorneys, to the Better Business Bureau for consumer complaints, and to federal Medicaid sites for nursing home inspection reports. Surveyors, however, had mixed results in finding much information on these sites.

“Several states posted information about how to file consumer complaints, get a teacher certification, or to take other actions, but they did not post reports about specific cases or proceedings.

“This is the first comprehensive survey of its kind,” said ASNE FOI Committee Co-chair Andrew Alexander. “It tells us that many states understand that digitizing public records is key to open government in the 21st century. But it also tells us that, with a few exceptions, states have a long way to go before they become truly transparent. (Emphasis added)

“We know that providing public records in digital form is the right thing to do for citizens. But it’s also the smart thing to do,” added Alexander, who is ombudsman for The Washington Post. “With state budgets under considerable stress, providing public records in digitized form.”

Source: Sunshine Week.org, March 14, 2009