Illinois patients can now research their doctors using an online database the state launched Wednesday.
The idea is to take the guesswork out of choosing a doctor by allowing easier access to information about the state’s 46,000 licensed physicians and surgeons.
The database can be accessed through the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation’s website at idfpr.com. There, patients can learn about a doctor’s educational background and training, determine what type of insurance they accept and find out what languages are spoken in the office.
Also included is information regarding criminal convictions, whether hospital privileges have been revoked and disciplinary action against the doctor by regulators in Illinois and other states.
Sponsoring Rep. Mary Flowers, D-Chicago, said the measure will protect patients from seeking out treatment from shady doctors who put lives at risk.
“We always say, ‘well, you’re the patient, you should have known’… there was no way,” said Flowers, who credited a series by the Tribune on dangerous doctors for helping persuade lawmakers to vote for the measure.
The new database replaces a similar site that operated from 2008 to 2010, but was taken down following a state Supreme Court ruling regarding medical malpractice reforms.
PHOTO: Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and his black girlfriend Monica Walker
