What does the Healthcare Quality Improvement Act require regarding malpractice payments?

• A. Malpractice payments must be reported to the NPDB regardless of amount
• B. Only settlements over a threshold are reported
• C. All health records audits are reported
• D. Physician licenses revoked for non-reporting

Answer: (A)

The main idea is that the Healthcare Quality Improvement Act requires malpractice payments to be reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank, with no minimum amount. This means settlements and final judgments in malpractice cases against physicians and other licensed health care practitioners must be reported, regardless of how small the payment is. The purpose is to provide credentialing bodies, hospitals, and licensing boards with a comprehensive view of adverse professional actions when evaluating a clinician, helping to safeguard patient safety and maintain accountability. Because there is no monetary threshold, every malpractice payment—settlements as well as judgments—enters the NPDB record. The other statements don’t fit because the act does not impose a reporting threshold, it’s not about auditing health records, and license actions aren’t the mechanism described by this reporting requirement.