Recent publicity over medical mistakes has revived a longstanding critique of the quality of American medicine. Just as harmful to patients as outright errors, experts warn, is the profession's reluctance to adopt proven treatments. Hundreds of government and professional guidelines aimed at bringing doctors up to date have gathered dust on physicians' shelves. Doctors have traditionally resisted public disclosure of their failure rates, but some states are already publishing such information. And several big employers are rewarding consumers that use highly rated hospitals. Unless consumers have a reliable way to distinguish good doctors from bad, medical quality will never improve, consumer advocates contend. An Internet-savvy public may soon demand the right to know more.

Sarah Glazer specializes in health, education and social-policy issues. Her articles have appeared in The Washington Post, Glamour, The Public Interest and Gender and Work, a book of essays. Glazer covered energy legislation for the Environmental and Energy Study Conference and reported for United Press International. She holds a BA in American history from the University of Chicago.