Defaulters
As The Times noted in a Jan. 26 editorial, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had a good idea when we posted on the Internet the list of doctors and other health professionals who have repeatedly ignored government efforts to collect on their Health Education Assistance Loans. The Internet posting was not perfect, as your editorial also stated.
The HEAL defaulters Web site was originally designed to support media inquiries, using only a single server. On day one of the Internet posting, more than 170,000 patrons jammed the site. By day four, we had added another server to support the heavy traffic and we had updated the list, removing 69 names. The site currently averages 22,000 hits a day.
CLAUDE EARL FOX, MD, MPH
Acting Administrator
Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS
Rockville, Md.
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