Iowa Medical Board
| Submitted | Feb. 13, 2025 |
| Due | Feb. 27, 2025 |
| Est. Completion | None |
MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests like this one. Learn more.
Communications
From: Vig Sinclair
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Iowa Open Records Law, I hereby request the following records:
1. All physician disciplinary actions from 2019-2024 related to:
- Mental health conditions
- Substance use
- Behavioral health issues
2. Comprehensive physician health program policies, specifically:
- Approach classification: Punitive vs. Supportive measures
- Detailed breakdown of intervention strategies
- Resources allocated to physician wellness programs
3. Detailed statistics on:
- Self-reported vs. discovered cases
- Return to practice rates
- Appeal outcomes
- Comparative analysis of intervention effectiveness
4. Physician Health Program (PHP) evaluation documents:
- Internal studies or reports on program effectiveness
- Comparative analyses of intervention approaches
- Confidentiality and support mechanisms
5. Professional Assistance Program details:
- Formal and informal agreements with Iowa Medical Board
- Confidentiality policies and their implementation
- Reporting protocols (board reporting rates)
- Physician outcome tracking
- Long-term support and monitoring strategies
6. Comprehensive program assessments:
- External and internal program audits
- Cost-benefit analysis of support programs
- Physician feedback and satisfaction metrics
- Comparative analysis with other state approaches
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Vig Sinclair
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Iowa Open Records Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Feb. 13, 2025. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Board of Professional Licensure
Hello. I wanted to let you know that we are receipt of your request and
are working on collecting information responsive to your request. I should
be able to update you in the next week or so. Thanks.
*Jill Stuecker*
*Division Administrator*
Professional Licensing Division
Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, & Licensing
6200 Park Avenue, Suite 100, Des Moines, Iowa 50321-1270
515-330-8110 mobile
jill.stuecker@dia.iowa.gov | dial.iowa.gov
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: <requests@muckrock.com>
Date: Thu, Feb 27, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Subject: RE: Iowa Open Records Law Request: Iowa Medical Board
To: <beth.jorgenson@idph.iowa.gov>
Board of Professional Licensure
ORA Office
Lucas State Office Bldg., 5th Floor
321 East 12th Street
Des Moines, IA 50319-0075
February 27, 2025
This is a follow up to a previous request:
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Iowa Open Records Law request,
copied below, and originally submitted on Feb. 13, 2025. Please let me know
when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
View request history, upload responsive documents, and report problems here:
https://www.muckrock.com/
If prompted for a passcode, please enter:
••••••••
Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com
PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW ADDRESS
For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 181416
263 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02115
PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is
being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share,
and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed
(i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the
department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.
---
On Feb. 13, 2025:
Subject: Iowa Open Records Law Request: Iowa Medical Board
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Iowa Open Records Law, I hereby request the following
records:
1. All physician disciplinary actions from 2019-2024 related to:
- Mental health conditions
- Substance use
- Behavioral health issues
2. Comprehensive physician health program policies, specifically:
- Approach classification: Punitive vs. Supportive measures
- Detailed breakdown of intervention strategies
- Resources allocated to physician wellness programs
3. Detailed statistics on:
- Self-reported vs. discovered cases
- Return to practice rates
- Appeal outcomes
- Comparative analysis of intervention effectiveness
4. Physician Health Program (PHP) evaluation documents:
- Internal studies or reports on program effectiveness
- Comparative analyses of intervention approaches
- Confidentiality and support mechanisms
5. Professional Assistance Program details:
- Formal and informal agreements with Iowa Medical Board
- Confidentiality policies and their implementation
- Reporting protocols (board reporting rates)
- Physician outcome tracking
- Long-term support and monitoring strategies
6. Comprehensive program assessments:
- External and internal program audits
- Cost-benefit analysis of support programs
- Physician feedback and satisfaction metrics
- Comparative analysis with other state approaches
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and
this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform
me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer
the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or
CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I
look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business
days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Vig Sinclair
View request history, upload responsive documents, and report problems here:
https://www.muckrock.com/
If prompted for a passcode, please enter:
••••••••
Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com
PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW ADDRESS
For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 181416
263 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02115
PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is
being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share,
and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed
(i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the
department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.
From: Board of Professional Licensure
Please see information below responsive to your open records request. Our
responses are in red, and a document is attached.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: <requests@muckrock.com>
Date: Thu, Feb 13, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Subject: Iowa Open Records Law Request: Iowa Medical Board
To: <beth.jorgenson@idph.iowa.gov>
Board of Professional Licensure
ORA Office
Lucas State Office Bldg., 5th Floor
321 East 12th Street
Des Moines, IA 50319-0075
February 13, 2025
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Iowa Open Records Law, I hereby request the following
records:
1. All physician disciplinary actions from 2019-2024 related to:
- Mental health conditions
- Substance use
- Behavioral health issues
Physician disciplinary actions can be found at
https://amanda-portal.idph.state.ia.us/ibm/portal/#/license/license_query.
We do not currently have a way to pull disciplinary information by these
topic areas.
2. Comprehensive physician health program policies, specifically: Physician
health program policies are confidential pursuant to Iowa Code Section
21.5(g). There are 2 full-time staff allocated to the physician wellness
program in Iowa. We classify our physician health program as
supportive. We do have code and administrative rules around what can be
shared with the board. Those citations are below. The attached is also
responsive to this question.
Iowa Code section 272C.3(k) and 272C.6(4)(a)
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/272c.pdf
Iowa Administrative Code, Iowa Physician Health Committee / Program:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/iac/chapter/05-04-2022.653.14.pdf
3. Detailed statistics on:
- Self-reported vs. discovered cases: 96 self reports/131 other referral
sources/9 no data (from 2019-2024)
- Return to practice rates (We do not have a data field in our database
related to return to practice)
- Appeal outcomes (I'm not clear what this means - there is not an appeal
process for the program)
- Comparative analysis of intervention effectiveness (We obtain information
from FSPHP <https://www.fsphp.org/> related to these topics. We do not
have any information to provide).
4. Physician Health Program (PHP) evaluation documents: We do not have any
information that is responsive to this request. We obtain information from
FSPHP related to these topics.
- Internal studies or reports on program effectiveness
- Comparative analyses of intervention approaches
- Confidentiality and support mechanisms
5. Professional Assistance Program details: See attached.
- Formal and informal agreements with Iowa Medical Board
- Confidentiality policies and their implementation
- Reporting protocols (board reporting rates)
- Physician outcome tracking
- Long-term support and monitoring strategies
6. Comprehensive program assessments: We do not have any information that
is responsive to this request.
- External and internal program audits
- Cost-benefit analysis of support programs
- Physician feedback and satisfaction metrics
- Comparative analysis with other state approaches
*Jill Stuecker*
*Division Administrator*
Professional Licensing Division
Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, & Licensing
6200 Park Avenue, Suite 100, Des Moines, Iowa 50321-1270
515-330-8110 mobile
From: Vig Sinclair
Dear Ms. Stuecker and team,
Thank you for your thoughtful and prompt response to our open records request. We sincerely appreciate the data and links you provided, especially the self-report/referral breakdown and references to the Iowa Administrative Code and relevant statutes.
We understand the need for confidentiality in individual cases. However, we respectfully believe there may be a misunderstanding regarding the scope of Iowa Code §21.5(g). While this provision clearly protects specific case discussions or investigative matters, it does not appear to prohibit disclosure of general policies, administrative procedures, or contractual agreements that govern the operation of the Physician Health Program (PHP). Such documents are essential for public transparency and are not inherently protected merely by their association with a confidential program.
Because this issue is a central component of our national research into PHP structures and oversight, we kindly submit the following follow-up requests:
Any contracts or memoranda of understanding between the Iowa Medical Board and the Iowa PHP or any third-party entities managing physician monitoring, including the Professional Assistance Program.
These may be redacted as needed to protect names or private health information.
Meeting minutes from the Physician Health Committee (or equivalent) between 2019 and 2024, specifically those addressing program operations, procedural updates, or structural evaluations.
We are not seeking identifiable physician information and are happy to accept redacted copies if necessary.
Finally, we respectfully encourage your department to consider conducting or commissioning an internal audit or outcomes assessment of the program’s long-term effectiveness, including return-to-practice metrics, physician feedback, and support outcomes. We note that the absence of such data is common among many states, but also represents a gap in quality assurance that merits attention.
Thank you again for your time, cooperation, and ongoing commitment to public service. We look forward to your reply and will gladly work with your office to clarify any aspects of this request.
Warm regards,