§624-25.5  Proceedings and records of peer
review committees and quality assurance committees.  (a)  As used in this
section:



"Case review forum" means any meeting
convened by the administrative or professional staff of a licensed hospital or
clinic for the presentation and critique of cases for educational purposes.



"Health care review organization"
means any organization that gathers and reviews information relating to the
procedures and outcomes of health care providers and the care and treatment of
patients for the purposes of evaluating and improving quality and efficiency of
health care.



"Licensed health maintenance
organization" means a health maintenance organization licensed in Hawaii
under chapter 432D.



"Peer review committee" means a
committee created by a professional society, or by the medical, dental,
optometric, or administrative staff of a licensed hospital, clinic, health
maintenance organization, preferred provider organization, or preferred
provider network, whose function is to maintain the professional standards of
persons engaged in its profession, occupation, specialty, or practice
established by the bylaws of the society, hospital, clinic, health maintenance
organization, preferred provider organization, or preferred provider network of
the persons engaged in its profession or occupation, or area of specialty
practice, or in its hospital, clinic, health maintenance organization,
preferred provider organization, or preferred provider network.



"Preferred provider organization" or
"preferred provider network" means a partnership, association,
corporation, or other entity that delivers or arranges for the delivery of
health services, and that has entered into a written service arrangement or
arrangements with health professionals, a majority of whom are licensed to
practice medicine or osteopathy.



"Professional society" or
"society" means any association or other organization of persons
engaged in the same profession, occupation, or a specialty within a profession
or occupation, a primary purpose of which is to maintain the professional
standards of the persons engaged in its profession or occupation or specialty
practice.



"Quality assurance committee" means
an interdisciplinary committee established by the board of trustees or administrative
staff of a licensed hospital, clinic, long-term care facility, skilled nursing
facility, assisted living facility, home care agency, hospice, health
maintenance organization, preferred provider organization, or preferred
provider network providing medical, dental, or optometric care, whose function
is to monitor and evaluate patient care, to identify, study, and correct
deficiencies in the health care delivery system to reduce the risk of harm to
patients and improve patient safety or otherwise improve the quality of care
delivered to patients.



(b)  Neither the proceedings nor the records of
peer review committees, quality assurance committees, or case review forums
shall be subject to discovery.  For the purposes of this section, "records
of quality assurance committees" are limited to recordings, transcripts,
minutes, summaries, and reports of committee meetings and conclusions contained
therein.  Information protected shall not include incident reports, occurrence
reports, or similar reports that state facts concerning a specific situation,
or records made in the regular course of business by a hospital or other
provider of health care.  Original sources of information, documents, or
records shall not be construed as being immune from discovery or use in any
civil proceeding merely because they were presented to, or prepared at the
direction of, the committees.  Except as hereinafter provided, no person in
attendance at a meeting of a committee or case review forum shall be required
to testify as to what transpired at the meeting.  The prohibition relating to
discovery or testimony shall not apply to the statements made by any person in
attendance at the meeting who is a party to an action or proceeding the subject
matter of which was reviewed at the meeting, or to any person requesting
hospital staff privileges, or in any action against an insurance carrier
alleging bad faith by the carrier in refusing to accept a settlement offer
within the policy limits.



(c)  Information and data relating to a medical
error reporting system that is compiled and submitted by a medical provider to
a health care review organization for the purpose of evaluating and improving
the quality and efficiency of health care, when done through a peer review
committee or hospital quality assurance committee, shall not be subject to
discovery.



For purposes of this subsection, the
information and data protected shall include proceedings and records of a peer
review committee, hospital quality assurance committee, or health care review
organization that include recordings, transcripts, minutes, and summaries of
meetings, conversations, notes, materials, or reports created for, by, or at
the direction of a peer review committee, quality assurance committee, or a
health care review organization when related to a medical error reporting
system.



Information and data protected from discovery
shall not include incident reports, occurrence reports, statements, or similar
reports that state facts concerning a specific situation and shall not include
records made in the regular course of business by a hospital or other provider
of health care, including patient medical records.  Original sources of
information, documents, or records shall not be construed as being immune from
discovery or use in any civil proceeding merely because they were reviewed or
considered by a medical provider for submission to, or were in fact submitted
to, a health care review organization.



(d)  The prohibitions contained in this section
shall not apply to medical, dental, or optometric society committees that
exceed ten per cent of the membership of the society, nor to any committee if
any person serves upon the committee when the person's own conduct or practice
is being reviewed.



(e)  The prohibitions contained in this section
shall apply to investigations and discovery conducted by the Hawaii medical board,
except as required by sections 92-17, 453-8.7, or 663-1.7(e). [L 1971, c 207,
§1; ren L 1972, c 143, §1(d); am L 1973, c 169, §1; am L 1975, c 170, §1; am L
1982, c 227, §5; gen ch 1985; am L 1989, c 354, §5 and c 373, §1; am L 1997, c
279, §1; am L 2004, c 54, §2; am L 2005, c 115, §2; am L 2008, c 9, §3]



 



Revision Note



 



  In subsection (d), reference to §663-1.7(e) substituted for
663-1.7(d).



 



Cross References



 



  Health care peer review, see chapter 671D.