Below Average Discipline Rate Rank #0 of 0

TRIBAL AGENCY — Physician Discipline Data

Healthcare professionals and entities in the TRIBAL AGENCY category excluded from federal programs.

Per 1,000 Physicians
18
Total Actions
Licensed Physicians
0%
Share of All Actions

How TRIBAL AGENCY Compares

The national average discipline rate across all specialties is 10.19 per 1,000 physicians. TRIBAL AGENCY has a rate below the national average, suggesting relatively lower incidence of disciplinary actions compared to other specialties.

Discipline rates vary for many reasons: prescribing patterns, patient interaction dynamics, practice setting, litigation exposure, and regulatory attention to specific practice areas.

What the TRIBAL AGENCY Discipline Data Reveals

TRIBAL AGENCY ranks #0 out of 0 specialties for physician discipline rate, with N/A serious actions per 1,000 licensed physicians. That rate is derived from 18 formal disciplinary actions taken against N/A tribal agency physicians in the United States — meaning roughly 0.0% of all physician discipline in the country involves this specialty. Compared to the national average of 10.19 per 1,000, TRIBAL AGENCY sits below the overall physician workforce baseline, placing it in the lower-incidence half of the specialty landscape.

Specialty-level discipline rates reflect regulatory exposure more than clinical quality. Specialties with heavy controlled-substance prescribing (pain management, psychiatry, addiction medicine), elevated malpractice exposure (surgery, obstetrics), or concentrated billing-fraud risk (some procedural and telehealth fields) consistently appear at higher rates because they generate more complaints and more board investigations per capita. A lower-than-average rate in TRIBAL AGENCY therefore tells patients what kind of oversight pressure the specialty faces — not whether an individual tribal agency physician is safe. Recent federal exclusions in this specialty include 10 providers spanning multiple states and exclusion categories.

For patients choosing a tribal agency provider, the takeaway is to verify the specific physician — not judge the specialty. Use the state medical board's license lookup for current status and any disciplinary orders, the FSMB DocInfo service for multi-state history, and the HHS OIG LEIE for federal exclusion checks. Rate statistics like N/A per 1,000 are useful context for understanding enforcement patterns at the specialty level, but personal verification is the only way to confirm that a particular provider is currently eligible to practice and bill federal programs.

Common Questions

What is the discipline rate for TRIBAL AGENCY physicians?
TRIBAL AGENCY physicians have a discipline rate of undefined per 1,000 licensed physicians, below the national average of 10.19 per 1,000. There are approximately undefined licensed tribal agency physicians in the US.
Does a high discipline rate mean TRIBAL AGENCY doctors are less safe?
Not necessarily. Higher discipline rates can reflect greater regulatory scrutiny, higher-risk practice environments, or more prescribing of controlled substances rather than lower competence. TRIBAL AGENCY physicians may face unique risk factors that increase regulatory attention without reflecting on the quality of the average practitioner.
How can I check if my doctor has been disciplined?
Check your state medical board's license verification website. Most states maintain public databases of all disciplinary actions. You can also use the FSMB's DocInfo service (docinfo.org) for multi-state history, or request records from the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB). See our guide on how to check your doctor for step-by-step instructions.
Why do discipline rates differ across specialties?
Discipline rates vary across specialties for many reasons: prescribing patterns (especially controlled substances), patient interaction dynamics, practice setting complexity, litigation exposure, and regulatory attention to specific practice areas. Surgical specialties, pain management, and psychiatry often have higher rates due to the nature of their practice, not because of lower quality physicians.

Patient Resources

Recent Federal Exclusions — TRIBAL AGENCY

Name State Reason Date
BEVERLY SCOTT AZ Misdemeanor: Healthcare Fraud 2025-01-20
KAREN L TICE IN Conviction: Healthcare Fraud 2021-05-20
SUSAN IRENE TRUJILLO AZ Conviction: Healthcare Fraud 2018-08-20
KATHY ANN SUTHERLAND CA Conviction: Healthcare Fraud 2018-07-19
TIMOTHY WARREN SR ROSETTE MT Conviction: Healthcare Fraud 2017-07-20
BRUCE HAROLD SR SUNCHILD CO Conviction: Healthcare Fraud 2017-05-18
JENNIFER A DONEY MT Misdemeanor: Healthcare Fraud 2015-08-20
DAWN C JONES MT Misdemeanor: Healthcare Fraud 2015-08-20
SANDRA MARIE SANDERVILLE CA Misdemeanor: Healthcare Fraud 2015-08-20
WILFORD HARLEN SUNCHILD CO Misdemeanor: Healthcare Fraud 2015-08-20

Source: HHS OIG LEIE HHS OIG LEIE

Source: HHS OIG LEIE + FSMB 2023 Physician Census HHS OIG LEIE + FSMB 2023 Physician Census State board discipline data from Public Citizen HRG #2235 (2021-2023). Federal exclusion data from HHS Office of Inspector General. This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical or legal advice

Related

Data sourced from official federal and state medical-board disciplinary records (FSMB, state boards). See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainDiscipline Editorial

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