The information on this page was last updated by Horty, Springer & Mattern on November 29, 2022.
OHIO
PEER REVIEW
Ohio Rev. Code Ann. §1751.21 Peer review committee
(A) A peer review committee of a hospital or other health care facility or provider, or of an intermediary organization or health delivery network, with which a health insuring corporation has a contract for health care services may provide to a peer review committee of the health insuring corporation any information, documents, testimony, or other records relating to any matter that is the subject of evaluation or review by the peer review committees, if consent is provided by the health care facility and any physician or other provider whose professional qualifications or activities are the subject of evaluation or review.
(B) Any immunity from liability for damages that is provided under section 2305.251 of the Revised Code and that would otherwise apply with respect to the conduct of any peer review committee described in division (A) of this section shall continue to apply, notwithstanding the provision of information as permitted under division (A) of this section.
(C) The information, documents, testimony, or other records described in division (A) of this section, if otherwise protected under section 2305.252 of the Revised Code, shall not be construed as being available for discovery or for use in any civil action solely on the basis that they were provided by the peer review committee as permitted under division (A) of this section.
§2305.24 Confidentiality of information furnished by physician to quality assurance committee or utilization committee
Any information, data, reports, or records made available to a quality assurance committee or utilization committee of a hospital or long-term care facility or of any not-for-profit health care corporation that is a member of the hospital or long-term care facility or of which the hospital or long-term care facility is a member are confidential and shall be used by the committee and the committee members only in the exercise of the proper functions of the committee. Any information, data, reports, or records made available to a utilization committee of a state or local medical society composed of doctors of medicine or doctors of osteopathic medicine are confidential and shall be used by the committee and the committee members only in the exercise of the proper functions of the committee. A right of action similar to that a patient may have against an attending physician for misuse of information, data, reports, or records arising out of the physician-patient relationship shall accrue against a member of a quality assurance committee or utilization committee for misuse of any information, data, reports, or records furnished to the committee by an attending physician. No physician, institution, hospital, or long-term care facility furnishing information, data, reports, or records to a committee with respect to any patient examined or treated by the physician or confined in the institution, hospital , or long-term care facility shall, by reason of the furnishing, be deemed liable in damages to any person, or be held to answer for betrayal of a professional confidence within the meaning and intent of section 4731.22 of the Revised Code. Information, data, or reports furnished to a utilization committee of a state or local medical society shall contain no name of any person involved therein.
Any information, data, reports, or records made available to a quality assurance committee of the bureau of workers’ compensation or the industrial commission that is responsible for reviewing the professional qualifications and the performance of providers conducting medical examinations or file reviews for the bureau or the commission are confidential and shall be used by the committee and the committee members only in the exercise of the proper functions of the committee.
As used in this section, “utilization committee” is the committee established to administer a utilization review plan of a hospital, of a not-for-profit health care corporation which is a member of the hospital or of which the hospital is a member, or of a skilled nursing facility as provided in the “Health Insurance for the Aged Act,” 79 Stat. 313 (1965), 42 U.S.C. 1395x(k).
§2305.25 Definitions
As used in this section and sections 2305.251 to 2305.253 of the Revised Code:
(A)(1) “Health care entity” means an entity, whether acting on its own behalf or on behalf of or in affiliation with other health care entities, that conducts as part of its regular business activities professional credentialing or quality review activities involving the competence of, professional conduct of, or quality of care provided by health care providers, including both individuals who provide health care and entities that provide health care.
(2) “Health care entity” includes any entity described in division (A)(1) of this section, regardless of whether it is a government entity; for-profit or nonprofit corporation; limited liability company; partnership; professional corporation; state or local society composed of physicians, dentists, optometrists, psychologists, or pharmacists; accountable care organization; other health care organization; or combination of any of the foregoing entities.
(B) “Health insuring corporation” means an entity that holds a certificate of authority under Chapter 1751. of the Revised Code. “Health insuring corporation” includes wholly owned subsidiaries of a health insuring corporation.
(C) “Hospital” means any of the following:
(1) An institution that has been registered or licensed by the department of health as a hospital;
(2) An entity, other than an insurance company authorized to do business in this state, that owns, controls, or is affiliated with an institution that has been registered or licensed by the department of health as a hospital;
(3) A group of hospitals that are owned, sponsored, or managed by a single entity.
(D) “Incident report or risk management report” means a report of an incident involving injury or potential injury to a patient as a result of patient care provided by health care providers, including both individuals who provide health care and entities that provide health care, that is prepared by or for the use of a peer review committee of a health care entity and is within the scope of the functions of that committee.
(E)(1) “Peer review committee” means a utilization review committee, quality assessment committee, performance improvement committee, tissue committee, credentialing committee, or other committee that does either of the following:
(a) Conducts professional credentialing or quality review activities involving the competence of, professional conduct of, or quality of care provided by health care providers, including both individuals who provide health care and entities that provide health care;
(b) Conducts any other attendant hearing process initiated as a result of a peer review committee’s recommendations or actions.
(2) “Peer review committee” includes all of the following:
(a) A peer review committee of a hospital or long-term care facility or a peer review committee of a nonprofit health care corporation that is a member of the hospital or long-term care facility or of which the hospital or facility is a member;
(b) A peer review committee of a community mental health center;
(c) A board or committee of a hospital, a long-term care facility, or other health care entity when reviewing professional qualifications or activities of health care providers, including both individuals who provide health care and entities that provide health care;
(d) A peer review committee, professional standards review committee, or arbitration committee of a state or local society composed of members who are in active practice as physicians, dentists, optometrists, psychologists, or pharmacists;
(e) A peer review committee of a health insuring corporation that has at least a two-thirds majority of member physicians in active practice and that conducts professional credentialing and quality review activities involving the competence or professional conduct of health care providers that adversely affects or could adversely affect the health or welfare of any patient;
(f) A peer review committee of a health insuring corporation that has at least a two-thirds majority of member physicians in active practice and that conducts professional credentialing and quality review activities involving the competence or professional conduct of a health care facility that has contracted with the health insuring corporation to provide health care services to enrollees, which conduct adversely affects, or could adversely affect, the health or welfare of any patient;
(g) A peer review committee of a sickness and accident insurer that has at least a two-thirds majority of physicians in active practice and that conducts professional credentialing and quality review activities involving the competence or professional conduct of health care providers that adversely affects or could adversely affect the health or welfare of any patient;
(h) A peer review committee of a sickness and accident insurer that has at least a two-thirds majority of physicians in active practice and that conducts professional credentialing and quality review activities involving the competence or professional conduct of a health care facility that has contracted with the insurer to provide health care services to insureds, which conduct adversely affects, or could adversely affect, the health or welfare of any patient;
(i) A peer review committee of any insurer authorized under Title XXXIX of the Revised Code to do the business of medical professional liability insurance in this state that conducts professional quality review activities involving the competence or professional conduct of health care providers that adversely affects or could affect the health or welfare of any patient;
(j) A peer review committee of the bureau of workers’ compensation or the industrial commission that is responsible for reviewing the professional qualifications and the performance of providers certified by the bureau to participate in the health partnership program or of providers conducting medical examinations or file reviews for the bureau or the commission;
(k) Any other peer review committee of a health care entity.
(F) “Physician” means an individual authorized to practice medicine and surgery, osteopathic medicine and surgery, or podiatric medicine and surgery.
(G) “Sickness and accident insurer” means an entity authorized under Title XXXIX of the Revised Code to do the business of sickness and accident insurance in this state.
(H) “Tort action” means a civil action for damages for injury, death, or loss to a patient of a health care entity. “Tort action” includes a product liability claim, as defined in section 2307.71 of the Revised Code, and an asbestos claim, as defined in section 2307.91 of the Revised Code, but does not include a civil action for a breach of contract or another agreement between persons.
(I) “Accountable care organization” means such an organization as defined in 42 C.F.R. 425.20.
§2305.251 Immunity from liability of members of certain professional review organizations; presumption of no negligence in credentialing
(A) No health care entity shall be liable in damages to any person for any acts, omissions, decisions, or other conduct within the scope of the functions of a peer review committee of the health care entity. No individual who is a member of or works for or on behalf of a peer review committee of a health care entity shall be liable in damages to any person for any acts, omissions, decisions, or other conduct within the scope of the functions of the peer review committee.
(B)(1) A hospital shall be presumed to not be negligent in the credentialing of an individual who has, or has applied for, staff membership or professional privileges at the hospital pursuant to section 3701.351 of the Revised Code, and a health insuring corporation or sickness and accident insurer shall be presumed to not be negligent in the credentialing of an individual who is, or has applied to be, a participating provider with the health insuring corporation or sickness and accident insurer, if the hospital, health insuring corporation, or sickness and accident insurer proves by a preponderance of the evidence that, at the time of the alleged negligent credentialing of the individual, the hospital, health insuring corporation, or sickness and accident insurer was accredited by one of the following:
(a) The joint commission on accreditation of healthcare organizations;
(b) The American osteopathic association;
(c) The national committee for quality assurance;
(d) The utilization review accreditation commission.
(2) The presumption that a hospital, health insuring corporation, or sickness and accident insurer is not negligent as provided in division (B)(1) of this section may be rebutted only by proof, by a preponderance of the evidence, of any of the following:
(a) The credentialing and review requirements of the accrediting organization did not apply to the hospital, health insuring corporation, sickness and accident insurer, the individual, or the type of professional care that is the basis of the claim against the hospital, health insuring corporation, or sickness and accident insurer.
(b) The hospital, health insuring corporation, or sickness and accident insurer failed to comply with all material credentialing and review requirements of the accrediting organization that applied to the individual.
(c) The hospital, health insuring corporation, or sickness and accident insurer, through its medical staff executive committee or its governing body and sufficiently in advance to take appropriate action, knew that a previously competent individual had developed a pattern of incompetence or otherwise inappropriate behavior, either of which indicated that the individual’s staff membership, professional privileges, or participation as a provider should have been limited or terminated prior to the individual’s provision of professional care to the plaintiff.
(d) The hospital, health insuring corporation, or sickness and accident insurer, through its medical staff executive committee or its governing body and sufficiently in advance to take appropriate action, knew that a previously competent individual would provide fraudulent medical treatment but failed to limit or terminate the individual’s staff membership, professional privileges, or participation as a provider prior to the individual’s provision of professional care to the plaintiff.
(3) If the plaintiff fails to rebut the presumption provided in division (B)(1) of this section, upon the motion of the hospital, health insuring corporation, or sickness and accident insurer, the court shall enter judgment in favor of the hospital, health insuring corporation, or sickness and accident insurer on the claim of negligent credentialing.
(C) Nothing in this section otherwise shall relieve any individual or health care entity from liability arising from treatment of an individual. Nothing in this section shall be construed as creating an exception to section 2305.252 of the Revised Code.
(D) No person who provides information under this section without malice and in the reasonable belief that the information is warranted by the facts known to the person shall be subject to suit for civil damages as a result of providing the information.
§2305.252 Confidentiality of peer review committee proceedings and records
(A) Proceedings and records within the scope of a peer review committee of a health care entity shall be held in confidence and shall not be subject to discovery or introduction in evidence in any civil action against a health care entity or health care provider, including both individuals who provide health care and entities that provide health care, arising out of matters that are the subject of evaluation and review by the peer review committee. No individual who attends a meeting of a peer review committee, serves as a member of a peer review committee, works for or on behalf of a peer review committee, or provides information to a peer review committee shall be permitted or required to testify in any civil action as to any evidence or other matters produced or presented during the proceedings of the peer review committee or as to any finding, recommendation, evaluation, opinion, or other action of the committee or a member thereof.
Information, documents, or records otherwise available from original sources are not to be construed as being unavailable for discovery or for use in any civil action merely because they were produced or presented during proceedings of a peer review committee, but the information, documents, or records are available only from the original sources and cannot be obtained from the peer review committee’s proceedings or records.
The release of any information, documents, or records that were produced or presented during proceedings of a peer review committee or created to document the proceedings does not affect the confidentiality of any other information, documents, or records produced or presented during those proceedings or created to document them. Only the information, documents, or records actually released cease to be privileged under this section.
Nothing in this section precludes health care entities from sharing information, documents, or records that were produced or presented during proceedings of a peer review committee or created to document them as long as the information, documents, or records are used only for peer review purposes.
An individual who testifies before a peer review committee, serves as a representative of a peer review committee, serves as a member of a peer review committee, works for or on behalf of a peer review committee, or provides information to a peer review committee shall not be prevented from testifying as to matters within the individual’s knowledge, but the individual cannot be asked about the individual’s testimony before the peer review committee, information the individual provided to the peer review committee, or any opinion the individual formed as a result of the peer review committee’s activities.
An order by a court to produce for discovery or for use at trial the proceedings or records described in this section is a final order.
(B) Division (A) of this section applies to a peer review committee of the bureau of workers’ compensation that is responsible for reviewing the professional qualifications and the performance of providers certified by the bureau to participate in the health partnership program created under sections 4121.44 and 4121.441 of the Revised Code, except that the proceedings and records within the scope of the peer review committee are subject to discovery or court subpoena and may be admitted into evidence in any criminal action or administrative or civil action initiated, prosecuted, or adjudicated by the bureau involving an alleged violation of applicable statutes or administrative rules. The bureau may share proceedings and records within the scope of the peer review committee, including claimant records and claim file information, with law enforcement agencies, licensing boards, and other governmental agencies that are prosecuting, adjudicating, or investigating alleged violations of applicable statutes or administrative rules. If the bureau shares proceedings or records with a law enforcement agency, licensing board, or another governmental agency pursuant to this division, that sharing does not affect the confidentiality of the record. Recipients of claimant records and claim file information provided by the bureau pursuant to this division shall take appropriate measures to maintain the confidentiality of the information.
§2305.253 Confidentiality of incident report of risk management report
(A) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of section 149.43, 1751.21, 2305.24, 2305.25, 2305.251, 2305.252, or 2305.28 of the Revised Code, an incident report or risk management report and the contents of an incident report or risk management report are not subject to discovery in, and are not admissible in evidence in the trial of, a tort action. An individual who prepares or has knowledge of the contents of an incident report or risk management report shall not testify and shall not be required to testify in a tort action as to the contents of the report.
(B)(1) Except as specified in division (A) of this section, this section does not affect any provision of section 149.43, 1751.21, 2305.24, 2305.25, 2305.251, 2305.252, or 2305.28 of the Revised Code that describes, imposes, or confers any of the following:
(a) An immunity from tort or other civil liability;
(b) A forfeiture of an immunity from tort or other civil liability;
(c) A requirement of confidentiality;
(d) A limitation on the use of information, data, reports or records;
(e) Tort or other civil liability;
(f) A limitation on discovery of matter, introduction into evidence of matter, or testimony pertaining to matter in a tort or other civil action.
(2) Divisions (A) and (B)(1) of this section do not prohibit or limit the discovery or admissibility of testimony or evidence relating to patient care that is within an individual’s personal knowledge.
(3) Divisions (A) and (B)(1) and (2) of this section do not affect a privileged communication between an attorney and the attorney’s client as described in section 2317.02 of the Revised Code.