Legislation sponsored by Illinois State Senator William Delgado (D–Chicago) that will require licensed physicians within Illinois to have their information available online, as well as any disciplinarian information, has been signed into law by Governor Pat Quinn.

The Patients' Right to Know Act will help to ensure that of the roughly 44,000 physicians and surgeons licensed to practice in Illinois, consumers are choosing the right one for their needs," stated Senator Delgado, Chairman of the Senate Public Health Committee. "The database created under this Act will enabled anyone to search by a doctor’s partial first or last name, city, specialty, keyword, or hospital affiliation, the specialty certifications, legal and disciplinary actions for the past five years, and details from physician resumes."

House Bill 105 creates the Patients’ Right to Know Act, which requires the Department of Professional Regulation to publish profiles of licensed physicians including information that will assist health care consumers in making informed choices about their primary and specialty health care providers. This measure will repeal current law concerning physician profiles.

This measure was originally a provision in the omnibus medical malpractice reform law which was struck down by the Supreme Court. In their opinion, they ruled that all of the provisions of the comprehensive reform law were void, even though they did not specifically object to the physician profile requirement.

"Several states operate the same type of profiling systems that include medical malpractice and disciplinary information including California, Florida, Idaho, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington," stated Delgado.