Maximus Gives New York Doctors a Checkup

Maximus Inc. won an 18-month, $4.8 million contract with the New York Department of Health to establish and operate a statewide physician profiling system, the company announced Nov. 9.

Under the contract with the department's new Public Safety Center, Maximus of Reston, Va., will undertake an extensive data collection effort to develop the profiles of about 70,000 physicians licensed and registered to practice in New York.

Once the profiles are assembled, they will be available for access by the public through a Web site and via a toll-free number. Maximus will establish a call center to handle inquiries from the public and requests for hard copies of the profiles.

The contract expires May 31, 2003, the company said.

New York's physician profiling system was mandated by the Patient Health Information and Quality Improvement Act of 2000, a state law requiring the creation of a health information system to collect a wide range of data on physicians and make that data available to the public on a continuing basis.

Types of information in the profiles are medical schools attended, board certification status, medical school appointments and hospital admitting privileges. The law also requires that the profiles contain such information as malpractice judgments, criminal convictions and medical license restrictions.

Maximus is a government services company that specializes in providing state and local governments with program management, information technology and consulting services.
Maximus has more than 4,700 employees and annual revenue of $399 million, according to Hoover's Online of Austin, Texas.