HCQIA
Catipay v. Trumbull Mem. Hosp., No. 2003-T-0136 (Ohio Ct. App. Sept. 24, 2004)
The
Ohio Court of Appeals granted summary judgment in favor of a hospital, its
board chairperson, and a department chairperson, finding that they were entitled
to immunity under the federal Health Care Quality Improvement Act (“HCQIA”)
for their actions in a peer review proceeding. In so holding, the court found
that the department chairperson had the authority to require a medical staff
applicant to undergo a physical and mental exam and that the board of directors
had the authority to appoint an ad hoc committee to review an application, even
though these powers were not specified in the medical staff bylaws. The court
also found that the peer review proceeding was adequate even though the physician
was not informed of the appointment of the ad hoc committee and did not testify
before it. Finally, the court ruled that the physician’s receipt of a reappointment
letter only three weeks before he was summarily suspended did not mean that he
had inadequate notice of the action taken against him.