The National Practitioner Data Bank: coping with the uncertainties.

The National Practitioner Data Bank is a database of adverse events involving physicians and other practitioners. Querying the database is mandatory for hospitals in several situations. So too, hospitals are required to report specified adverse events. Thus, hospitals need to be able to identify incidents that are reportable events, events that require them to update the databases, and any possible liability issues that may surround the hospital's reporting duties. The author argues that the regulations are unclear in addressing these issues. Likewise, he notes that practitioners should be aware of other problems with the reporting system, including the lack of sufficient Data Bank security.