Shepard Hurwitz, MD, the board’s executive director, previously stated the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery will use ProPublica's Surgeon Scorecard to assess its surgeons. The organization stated Dr. Hurwirtz ''miscommunicated'' and the organization will not be using ProPublica’s Scorecard, according to ProPublica.
Here are four points:
1. The issue of using the Scorecard was never discussed among the organization’s other officers or board.
2. American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery described the lapse in communication as an ''unfortunate misunderstanding'' and Dr. Hurwitz ''miscommunicated his own personal preliminary willingness to consider using the [S]corecard as a more formal decision by the ABOS.''
3. The group stated Dr. Hurwitz did not have the authority to act on his own.
4. Dr. Hurwitz could not be reached for comment.