To enact section 4731.28 of the Revised Code to require the State Medical Board to create physician profiles and make them available to the public.

Section 1.  To enact section 4731.28 of the Revised Code to read as follows:

Sec. 4731.28. (A) For the purposes of this section, "physician" means an individual licensed under this chapter to practice medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery.

(B) The state medical board shall develop an individual profile of each physician who holds a valid certificate issued under this chapter. The board shall provide a copy of a physician's profile without charge to any person on request. Each profile shall be printed and, on request, shall be mailed to the person requesting it. If funds are available and the board considers it appropriate, physician profiles may also be distributed through the internet or an on-line computer service.

Except as provided in division (D) of this section, each profile shall include all the following:

(1) Names of medical schools and dates of graduation;

(2) Graduate medical education;

(3) Specialty board certification;

(4) Number of years in practice;

(5) Names of hospitals where the physician has privileges to practice;

(6) The physician's primary practice location;

(7) Identification of any translating services that may be available at the physician's primary practice location;

(8) A statement of whether or not the physician participates in the medicaid program;

(9) A statement of whether or not the physician is accepting new patients;

(10) Appointments to medical faculties and indication as to whether the physician has had responsibility for graduate medical education during the preceding ten years;

(11) Information regarding publications in peer-reviewed medical literature during the preceding ten years;

(12) Information regarding professional or community service activities and awards;

(13) A listing of all medical malpractice court judgments, all medical malpractice arbitration awards, and insurance settlements, in the preceding ten years in which a payment was awarded to a complaining party;

(14) A description of any final disciplinary actions taken within the preceding ten years by the board or a professional licensing board of another state;

(15) A description of either of the following that occurred in the preceding ten years:

(a) Revocation or involuntary restriction of privileges to practice in a hospital for reasons related to competence or character that were taken by the hospital's governing board or an official of the hospital after procedural due process was afforded;

(b) Resignation from or nonrenewal of medical staff membership or the restriction of privileges to practice at a hospital taken in lieu of or in settlement of a pending disciplinary case related to competence or character.

(16) A listing of any felonies or misdemeanors determined by the board to be serious misdemeanors of which the physician was convicted, or to which the physician pleaded guilty or no contest within the preceding ten years.

(C) The board shall provide each physician with a copy of the physician's profile prior to release to the public. A physician shall be provided a reasonable time to correct factual inaccuracies that appear in the profile.

(D) A physician may elect to have the profile omit any of the information specified in divisions (B)(10) to (12) of this section. In collecting information for the profiles and in disseminating the profiles, the board shall inform physicians that they may choose not to provide any of the information specified in divisions (B)(10) to (12) of this section.

(E) Information required by division (B)(13) of this section about dispositions of paid medical malpractice claims shall be reported in physician profiles in a minimum of three graduated categories indicating the level of significance of the award or settlement. Information concerning paid medical malpractice claims shall be put in context by comparing an individual physician's medical malpractice judgment awards and settlement to the experience of other physicians within the same specialty. Information concerning all settlements shall be accompanied by the following statement: "Settlement of a claim may occur for a variety of reasons that do not necessarily reflect negatively on the professional competence or conduct of the physician. A payment in settlement of a medical malpractice action or claim should not be construed as creating a presumption that medical malpractice occurred." The board may provide further explanatory information regarding the significance of categories in which settlements are reported.