Lee’s Summit doc determined to face challenges as president of this prestigious board

For Marc Taormina, it’s been a pretty busy year. The Lee’s Summit doctor is serving as president of the Missouri Board of Registration for the Healing Arts, which oversees physician licensing and looks into issues such as malpractice.

The gastroenterologist has been part of the board since 2019 but began a one-year term as its president earlier this year.

To get the job, you have to first be on the board and get nominated by the other members, then pass a background check before being appointed by the governor’s office. The board itself has two osteopathic doctors and six other medical doctors.

The president runs meetings of the board, oversees both formal and informal hearings, assigns people to committees, approves subpoenas from investigators for the board and advises the board’s executive director.

“It’s really been a learning experience. We really have very close relationships with the administrative side of medicine and of the state statutes, and we do get a lot of advice from our legal counsel,” Taormina said.

Getting a peek inside the legal practices that govern the state’s doctors has given Taormina new insights into his profession.

“It’s just been very interesting. I mean, I think it has made everybody that I’ve talked to on the board a better physician, they feel. I know I feel that because it’s really opened my eyes to what is important in terms of risk management, quality documentation, the importance of documentation and following through,” he said. “All the pitfalls that can happen in a busy practice that get doctors into trouble and lead to errors.”

Taormina said that his background — a mix of military and private practice — has served him well in seeing from the perspective of a diverse group doctors around the state.

Because doctors from urban, suburban or rural practices will face different challenges, “I think it’s important for physicians to have somebody on board that understands what’s going on in a medical office in their (type of) practice,” he said.

Taormina likes that he’s able to use his time as board president to give back to his community.

“I’m able to help the Missouri citizens get quality medical care,” he said.

He hopes to improve the board’s transparency by revamping its website.

The hearings themselves are only public if the board recommends a public reprimand or a restricting or removing a doctor’s medical license. Taormina said there are several private measures the board might take to discipline erring doctors, and the punishment depends on how severe the doctor’s transgression was.

Taormina said the hardest part of his job with the board is working with physicians who have drug or alcohol problems. After a complaint, the board may require a doctor to be closely monitored while working and help arrange for programs to help him or her remain sober.

“One of hardest decisions we have to make sometimes is whether a physician is competent and should continue to practice,” he said.

The recent surge of telemedicine has presented new challenges, because patients who are Missouri residents may be seeing doctors who aren’t licensed by the state of Missouri. He said that having a doctor with Missouri license gives patients confidence.

“They need to know that when a person receives a Missouri license, they’ve been vetted. They have a certain level of education, and their background has been checked thoroughly,” Taormina said.

“Any complaints that come to the board are investigated. We also investigate all malpractice actions.”