Consumer Reports ranks 5 states with the best, worst medical boards

A sweeping article from Consumer Reports says thousands of physicians are currently practicing in the U.S., despite being on medical probation for reasons such as drug abuse, sexual misconduct and careless errors. State medical boards should be able to help, but the report found they are not all reliable sources.

Consumer Reports worked with the Informed Patient Institute, a nonprofit patient safety group, to analyze the websites of medical boards in all 50 states. The examined how complete the information on the websites was and how easy the websites were to use, and then rated them on a scale from one to 100.

Based on their findings, the best state medical boards were found in:

1. California — with an overall score of 84
2. New York — 79
3. Massachusetts — 78
4. Illinois — 76
5. North Carolina — 76

The worst state medical boards were found in:

1. Mississippi — with an overall score of 6
2. Indiana — 20
3. Hawaii — 22
4. Montana — 26
5. Wyoming — 27

To access the complete "Medical Board Website Ratings" report, click here.