What is the NPDB?

The National Practitioner Data Bank is a web-based repository of reports used as a workforce tool to enhance professional review efforts, and prevent health care fraud and abuse, with the ultimate goal of protecting the public.

Registered, authorized entities must submit certain information concerning medical malpractice payments, adverse actions, and judgment or conviction reports regarding health care practitioners, providers, and suppliers.

How the NPDB Works

Only registered entities have access to reports.

More than 23,500 entities interact with the NPDB, including the following:

• Hospitals
• Health plans
• State licensing boards
• Medical malpractice payers
• Other health care entities

Query

Entities use the query response as a workforce tool for licensing, hiring, and credentialing decisions.

Report

Entities are required by law to submit reports.

NPDB contains 1.8 million plus reports.

Practitioners, providers, and suppliers may search the NPDB (Self-Query) for their own information.

Practitioners, providers, and suppliers may submit a subject statement explaining his, hers, or its perspective which will become part of the report.

The Public Use Data File is available to the general public for research purposes. The file has been de-identified and does not contain any Personally Identifiable Information.

What's in the NPDB?

• ~1.25 million Adverse Action Reports. Certain adverse licensure, certification, and clinical privileges actions taken by state and federal licensing and certification authorities, hospitals, and other health care organizations.
• ~507,000 Medical Malpractice Payment Report. Payments made for the benefit of a health care practitioner relating to a written claim or judgment for medical malpractice.
• ~43,000 Judgment or Conviction Reports. Health care-related civil judgments or criminal convictions taken in a federal or state court.

~ means approximate.

Cumulative data as of Dec. 2023.

In 2023 the NPDB provided 12.5 million plus query responses and received 65,000 plus new reports.

Data for Jan.-Dec.2023.

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