Physician health programs offer high success rate for impaired practitioners
If you’ve helped arrange treatment for a practitioner with substance abuse problems, chances are you’re familiar with state physician health programs (PHP).
Recent studies of 16 state PHPs indicate an outstanding success rate with physicians monitored by state PHPs over an average 7.2 years (source: How are addicted Physicians treated? A national survey of physician health programs (2009), Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment). Of 904 physicians, 78% completed this monitoring without relapse. Of those who did relapse, additional treatment resulted in over 90% doing well at the end of the study period.
Want to learn more about MSPs’ responsibilities in these matters? Check out “Substance abuse policies: Know your role in testing, treating, and recredentialing practitioners,” in the February issue of Briefings on Credentialing.
About the Author: Emily Berry is an associate editor at HCPro in the credentialing market. In addition to managing information on CRC she writes the Briefings on Credentialing newsletter and the Credentialing Resource Center Connection weekly email newsletter. A native of Ohio, she graduated from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland before moving east to attain her MS degree in journalism from Boston University.
