The Impact of Peer Review on the Legal Industry with Phillip Greer, CEO of Best Lawyers: On Record PR
FCPA Compliance Report-Episode 329, James Koukios
The term “peer review privilege” generally refers to a discovery and evidentiary privilege that can be asserted by hospitals and other healthcare entities to protect the confidentiality of credentialing, quality improvement,...more
Din v. Sutter Valley Hospital (June 10, 2025, C099101, unpublished) puts the spotlight on a dividing line in California law: when can a hospital be liable for actions taken by its medical staff? The case sharpens the contrast...more
On February 19, 2025, the California Court of Appeal published a decision, Lin v. Board of Directors of PrimeCare Medical Network, Inc., 108 Cal.App.5th 1163, emphasizing California Business and Professions Code’s requirement...more
On December 10, 2024, the Supreme Court of Ohio issued its decision in Stull v. Summa, a medical negligence case in which the defendants argued that Ohio’s statutory peer-review privilege protected from discovery the file the...more
Background - On December 10, 2024, the Supreme Court of Ohio issued its decision in Stull v. Summa, a medical negligence case in which the defendants argued that Ohio’s statutory peer-review privilege protected from...more
Peer review litigation in Pennsylvania has been quiet since the Pennsylvania Supreme Court handed down the Leadbitter decision in 2021....more
Few aspects of the healthcare regulatory apparatus evoke more confusion and dread for healthcare practitioners than the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB or Data Bank). Being reported to the Data Bank is often regarded...more
The confidentiality of medical staff peer review has long been a cornerstone of hospital operations, fostering an environment where physicians can candidly evaluate medical care without the looming specter of malpractice...more
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a case challenging the sufficiency of due process protections in the Health Care Quality Improvement Act (HCQIA) and National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), effectively...more
COVID-19 accelerated the trend of physician employment with hospitals, with recent data showing that nearly 70 percent of physicians are employed by hospitals or hospital-affiliated foundations or groups. While physician...more
The peer review privilege, a critically important but often misunderstood legal protection, shields certain records and proceedings from disclosure outside the peer review process. Healthcare providers engaged in medical...more
On June 13, 2023, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a major new patient safety bill into law that is intended both to reform the disciplinary authority of the Texas Medical Board (TMB) and to better protect patients from...more
Structure of AMCs - While every AMC is unique, there are some common characteristics that many share: (1) the hospital and school are often tethered together from an organizational, governance and/or legal perspective;...more
Parties in peer review hearings can present a wide range of relevant evidence, regardless of its admissibility in a court of law. But California has passed a new “apology law” that modifies that standard, erecting a...more
While hospital medical staffs have traditionally handled most of California’s peer review activity, recent trends are forcing more and more medical groups to wrestle with reporting and fair hearing obligations when...more
Many California medical staffs may be looking to start 2022 with updated bylaws. A recent case, Bichai v. Davita, Inc. (2021) 72 Cal.App.5th 1126, stands as a reminder that the bylaws cannot set forth a stricter burden of...more
Recently, in Siegel v. Snyder, Slip.Op. 07624, New York’s Appellate Division, Second Department interpreted New York’s peer review/quality assurance confidentiality statute in a manner that may require modifications to the...more
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an order and opinion on August 17 holding that medical peer review documents do not need to be generated by a “peer review committee” to be protected under the Pennsylvania Peer Review...more
The Supreme Court of Iowa recently reversed the judgment of a district court and remanded the matter with instructions to enter summary judgment in favor of Hamilton County Public Hospital, operating as Van Diest Medical...more
Deborah Palmer (“Plaintiff”), as the surviving spouse of Vance Palmer (“Mr. Palmer”), brought multiple claims against defendants Christiana Care Health Services, Inc. (“Hospital”) and neurosurgeon Bikash Bose, M.D. (“Dr....more
Flattening the Curve: Are Vaccination Mandates a Viable Strategy for Hospitals? Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (“SARS-CoV-2”) vaccines hold promise to control the pandemic and help restore normal social and...more
Many health care entities took a “set it and forget it” approach to their CQIPs once the CQIPs were approved by DOH under regulations adopted in 2006. Beginning tomorrow, such entities will need to reconsider their...more
On November 3, 2020, a Massachusetts Federal District Court issued a notable decision on the applicability of the state’s medical peer review privilege in a federal proceeding, determining that the privilege does not apply to...more
Last week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court announced it would address whether the Pennsylvania Peer Review Protection Act (PRPA or Act) protects documents in hospital credentialing files. This decision could significantly...more
Introduction - A recent decision by a Texas Court of Appeals reaffirms several important principles regarding the medical peer review privilege: (1) communications arguably covered by the peer review privilege need not be...more