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Editorial

Patients deserve more data on physicians with poor records

  March 28, 2012

Most people wouldn’t buy a washing machine without doing significant research on the reliability of the product. Yet they are expected to choose a doctor without access to reliable data. In 1996, when the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine launched its physician profiles, it promised a new era for the “informed patient.’’ That turned out to be a false promise for people who face the task of choosing an unfamiliar doctor from health plan lists.

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