Doctors Web site not ready

An Internet Web page giving information on Florida's 56,000 doctors _ including whether they've been in trouble _ won't be accessible before Monday, although the Legislature set a July 1 deadline.

The site was promised for Friday by the state Department of Health. But officials said the first group of doctor profiles will now be posted on the Web site Monday, unless there are more problems.

"Between getting the technical part and getting the data entered, there were glitches," agency spokesman Bill Parizek told the Orlando Sentinel.

It will be several weeks before the department finishes entering background information on physicians, osteopaths, chiropractors and podiatrists, officials said. Doctors are also being allowed to correct the information for another month.

State officials say Web surfers will be able to find out quickly whether a doctor has been convicted of a crime, paid a malpractice claim over $5,000 or been disciplined by a state medical board within the past 10 years.

They also will be able to find out about a doctor's practice and education.

The Web site is part of an effort to keep closer tabs on the state's physicians.

The physician profile Web site is www.doh.state.fl.us/ profiling/home.asp.