Nursing Malpractice: Liability and Risk Management

The National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB, Data Bank) was established through Title IV of Public Law 99–660, the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986, as amended (the Act). The intent of Title IV was to improve the quality of health care by encouraging hospitals, state licensing boards, and other health care entities, including professional societies, to identify and discipline those who engage in unprofessional behavior; and to restrict the ability of incompetent physicians, dentists, and other health care practitioners to move from state to state without disclosure or discovery of previous damaging or incompetent performance. At the same time, it is charged with protecting the rights of the practitioner.

In 1987, Section 5 of the Medicare and Medicaid Patient and Program Protection Act (PL 100–93) expanded certain provisions of the 1986 law. The expanded scope included provisions for licensure actions taken against certain health care practitioners. Final regulations governing the Data Bank were published in the Federal Register on October 17, 1989, and are codified at 45 DFR Part 60. On September 1, 1990, the NPDB was formally inaugurated. There were no retroactive reporting requirements for events prior to September 1, 1990. Copies of the Act and the final regulations are provided

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