Legal resources - Indiana State Medical Association

The Indiana State Medical Association (ISMA) is a private, non-profit membership association for physicians. It is not a state or government agency. We also do not have any relationship with hospitals or other types of facilities, nurses, physician assistants, chiropractors, psychologists, optometrists, dentists, podiatrists or any other persons who are not doctors of medicine or osteopathy.

Resources

If you are trying to find out more information about physicians, consider the following sources:

Indiana State Medical Association Doctor Details (ISMA membership, location, specialty)
Indiana Medical Licensing Board License Verification Search (license status and history)
Indiana Department of Insurance Patient’s Compensation Fund Database (malpractice claims history)

Filing a Complaint

If you wish to file a complaint against a physician, your options depend on who the physician is, the nature of the complaint, and what you are seeking as relief. Read the following bullets below for further explanation.

Direct Communication - As a first step, the ISMA always recommends that you contact the physician and express your concern to the physician directly, either in person, by telephone or by written mail. Sometimes the issue has simply been a misunderstanding and can be quickly resolved.

License Sanction - If you want someone to take action against the physician’s license to practice medicine, only the Indiana Medical Licensing Board has such authority. Complaints must start with the Office of the Indiana Attorney General Consumer Complaint Division.

Money Recovery (malpractice injury) - If you wish to recover money for injuries you believe you suffered as a result of medical malpractice, you may only recover through a medical malpractice lawsuit in the courts. You should contact an attorney for advice.

Money Reimbursement/Repayment - If you wish to be reimbursed money that you paid the physician for services and which you believe you deserve to be repaid, only the physician or physician’s office or a court of law have such authority.
ISMA Non-Members - If the physician is not a member of ISMA (see Doctor Details), the ISMA has no relationship with that physician. The Office of the Indiana Attorney General has jurisdiction over all Indiana licensed professionals.

ISMA Members - If the physician is a member of the ISMA and you are not seeking money or action against the physician’s license, contact ISMA’s Legal Department to discuss further. However, if the physician is located in one of the following counties, contact the county medical society to ask about the possibility of filing a complaint:

Marion County ( Indianapolis) – (317) 639-3406
Lake & Porter Counties – (219) 769-3551
St. Joseph County – (574) 288-4401
Vanderburgh County – (812) 475-9001
Allen County ( Fort Wayne) – (260) 420-1011
Monroe & Owen Counties – (812) 332-4033

Locating Medical Records

If your physician is retired, closed his or her practice or relocated, and you are trying to locate your medical records, follow these steps:

Review any written notice you may have received from the physician indicating how you could obtain your records and follow the instructions provided. If you did not receive such notice, contract the local newspaper to determine if the notice was published. If so, obtain a copy.
Attempt to call the office.
Submit a written request to the physician at the office address. (Even though the office may be closed, they may still be receiving mail there) Your request must include particular information, as set forth in Indiana Code 16-39-1-4. Requests for medical records must be in writing in order to be valid. Therefore, this step must be followed.
If above attempts are unsuccessful, consider the following options:

Check the physician’s status and location through the Indiana Medical Licensing Board to verify his or her current Indiana contact information so that you can submit a written request to the doctor.
Call the physician’s specialty society (e.g., Family Physicians = Indiana Academy of Family Physicians; Anesthesiologists = Indiana Society of Anesthesiologists) to inquire about the physician’s current practice location or contact information.
If you know the physician relocated out of state to practice medicine there, contact that state’s medical licensure board for the physician’s new contact information.
Call the physician’s local hospital to inquire whether they know where the physician or his/her records are located.
If the physician is an ISMA member (check Doctor Details on ISMA’s Web site), call the local county medical society or the Indiana State Medical Association. If the physician is not a member of the ISMA, call the Indiana Office of Attorney General Consumer Protection Division at (317) 232-6330 or (800) 382-5516.