TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE
Re-evaluating current balance of
public reporting, member privacy
Health regulators work together in considering increased transparency
W
hat information does an
individual need to know
about the physician who
will treat him or her?
That is the test that is being applied as we begin examining which
categories of information should be
posted on our public register.
“What do patients need to know in
order to make an informed choice?
We will be putting that question to
the public and the profession as we
move forward on our initiative to
determine what information should
be posted on our public register,”
said Dr. Rocco Gerace, College
Registrar.
Transparency provides members of
the public with information that
enables them to decide who they
wish to see for care. It also allows
organizations – such as ours – to
demonstrate how we protect the
public through our processes, said
Dr. Gerace.
The College’s initiative to examine
if and how we should make more
of our processes and decisions
transparent reflects a growing,
world-wide recognition that public
institutions need to make more
information available. In an on-line
survey of 3,000 Ontario adults
commissioned by the province’s
health regulatory colleges, most
respondents said that easily accessible public information about the
conduct and practice of health-care
professionals is very important. The
most important pieces of information the respondents said they need
about their health-care providers
are: criminal convictions, status of
license and complaints that result
in formal disciplinary action being
taken.
“Members of the public want assurance that they will be safe,” said Mr.
Lucas Marshall, of Pollara Strategic
Insights. The information provided
to them should support that goal,
he said.
sparentciyn
tran rma o
of info
In the context of a changing
culture, we have launched a multiphased transparency initiative
to engage in a conversation with
the public and the profession to
determine how we can provide
more information about physicians,
It allows organizations
– such as ours – to demonstrate how we protect
the public through our
processes
our decisions and processes, while
ensuring fairness and our commitment to education.
It’s a move in which we are joined
with other health regulatory colleges in Ontario. We have formed
an advisory group made up of
regulators of nurses, dental surgeons, pharmacists, physiotherapists
and optometrists. The first task of
the Advisory Group for Regulatory
Excellence (AGRE) was to develop
principles to guide regulatory college discussions about making more
information publicly available (see
sidebar 1).
“We believe these principles strike
a balanced tone, demonstrating an
openness to transparency, combined
with a thoughtful, careful approach.
As we move through this project,
we will examine each potential
DIALOGUE • Issue 2, 2014
19