MQA Quarterly Performance Report

22 / 24

MQA Q4 2015 - 2016 21
QUARTERLY SUMMARY
Complaints Received 5,827
Legally Sufficient 2,386
Investigations Completed 1,589
Citations Issued 6
Dismissed by Panel 724
Probable Cause Found 407
Probable Cause Dismissed 51
Final Orders 509
EMERGENCY ORDERS ISSUED
Emergency Restriction Orders 39
Emergency Suspension Orders 46
Total Emergency Orders 85
FINES AND COST DATA FOR CURRENT LICENSEES
Dollar Amount Collected $410,688
Dollar Amount Imposed $944,977
Percentage Collected 43%
NUMBER OF ACTIVE CASES
Consumer Services 5,855
Investigative Services 717
Prosecution Services 5,462
BY THE NUMBERS
The Florida Department of Health Division of Medical Quality Assurance receives about 20,000 complaints a year.
The Department lacks the authority to pursue many of those complaints because they are not violations of statute or
rule (e.g. billing disputes or bedside manner complaints). Nonetheless, MQA in conjunction with the boards that regulate
the professions issued final orders against 1,489 health care practitioners last fiscal year. Some practitioners were
determined to need additional training to prevent errors, some were reprimanded and some sanctioned. MQA takes
emergency action for violations that pose an immediate and serious threat to the public and violations under section
456.074, Florida Statutes, including the commission of crimes, violations of standards of care, drug use, impairment,
drug diversion, sexual misconduct or student loan defaults.
This section summarizes MQA’s enforcement activities. The Bureau of Enforcement’s
key role is to investigate complaints and reports against licensed practitioners and
unlicensed practitioners. Investigations are pursued at several levels, and the bureau
has several specialized units: the Unlicensed Activity Program, Consumer Services Unit,
Investigative Services Unit and Compliance Management Unit.
Enforcement Data