This information was last updated by Horty, Springer & Mattern on May 26, 2021.

MONTANA

PEER REVIEW

Mont. Code Ann. §37-2-201 Nonliability — evidential privilege — application to nonprofit corporations.

(1) A member of a utilization review or medical ethics review committee of a hospital or long-term care facility or of a professional utilization committee, peer review committee, medical ethics review committee, or professional standards review committee of a society composed of persons licensed to practice a health care profession is not liable in damages to any person for any action taken or recommendation made within the scope of the functions of the committee if the committee member acts without malice and in the reasonable belief that the action or recommendation is warranted by the facts known to the member after reasonable effort to obtain the facts of the matter for which the action is taken or a recommendation is made.

(2) The proceedings and records of professional utilization, peer review, medical ethics review, and professional standards review committees are not subject to discovery or introduction into evidence in any proceeding. However, information otherwise discoverable or admissible from an original source is not to be construed as immune from discovery or use in any proceeding merely because it was presented during proceedings before the committee, nor is a member of the committee or other person appearing before it to be prevented from testifying as to matters within the individual’s knowledge, but the individual may not be questioned about the individual’s testimony or other proceedings before the committee or about opinions or other actions of the committee or any member of the committee.

(3) This section also applies to any member, agent, or employee of a nonprofit corporation engaged in performing the functions of a peer review, medical ethics review, or professional standards review committee.

§50-5-101 Definitions.

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(26) (a) “Health care facility” or “facility” means all or a portion of an institution, building, or agency, private or public, excluding federal facilities, whether organized for profit or not, that is used, operated, or designed to provide health services, medical treatment, or nursing, rehabilitative, or preventive care to any individual. The term includes chemical dependency facilities, critical access hospitals, eating disorder centers, end-stage renal dialysis facilities, home health agencies, home infusion therapy agencies, hospices, hospitals, infirmaries, long-term care facilities, intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled, medical assistance facilities, mental health centers, outpatient centers for primary care, outpatient centers for surgical services, rehabilitation facilities, residential care facilities, and residential treatment facilities.

(b) The term does not include offices of private physicians, dentists, or other physical or mental health care workers regulated under Title 37, including licensed addiction counselors.

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§50-16-201 Definitions.

As used in this part, the following definitions apply:

(1)(a) “Data” means written reports, notes, or records or oral reports or proceedings created by or at the request of a utilization review, peer review, medical ethics review, quality assurance, or quality improvement committee of a health care facility that may be shared with a medical practitioner, including the medical practitioner being reviewed, and that are used exclusively in connection with quality assessment or improvement activities, including the professional training, supervision, or discipline of a medical practitioner by a health care facility. The term includes all subsequent evaluations and analysis of an untoward event, including any opinions or conclusions of a reviewer.

(b) The term does not include:

(i) incident reports or occurrence reports; or

(ii) health care information that is used in whole or in part to make decisions about an individual who is the subject of the health care information.

(2) “Health care facility” has the meaning provided in 50-5-101.

(3)(a) “Incident report” or “occurrence report” means a written business record of a health care facility that:

(i) may be but is not required to be created by the staff involved in response to an untoward event, such as a patient injury, adverse outcome, or interventional error, for the purpose of ensuring a prompt evaluation of the event; and

(ii) is a factual rendition of the event.

(b) The terms do not include any subsequent evaluation of the event created by or at the request of a utilization review, peer review, medical ethics review, quality assurance, or quality improvement committee, regardless of whether or not the subsequent evaluation of the event occurred in response to an incident report or occurrence report. The creation of an incident report or occurrence report is not a condition precedent for a subsequent evaluation of an event, and any subsequent evaluation of an event remains privileged and confidential pursuant to this part, regardless of the creation of an incident report or occurrence report.

(4) “Medical practitioner” means an individual licensed by the state of Montana to engage in the practice of medicine, osteopathy, podiatry, optometry, or a nursing specialty described in 37-8-202 or licensed as a physician assistant pursuant to 37-20-203.

§50-16-202 Committees to have access to information.

It is in the interest of public health and patient medical care that health care facility committees have access to the records and other health care information relating to the condition and treatment of patients in the health care facility to study and evaluate for the purpose of evaluating matters relating to the care and treatment of patients for research purposes and for the purpose of reducing morbidity or mortality and obtaining statistics and information relating to the prevention and treatment of diseases, illnesses, and injuries. To carry out these purposes, any health care facility and its agents and employees may provide medical records or other health care information relating to the condition and treatment of any patient in the health care facility to any utilization review, peer review, medical ethics review, quality assurance, or quality improvement committee of the health care facility.

§50-16-203 Committee health care information and proceedings confidential and privileged.

All records and health care information referred to in 50-16-202 are confidential and privileged to the committee and the members of the committee, as though the health care facility patients were the patients of the members of the committee. All proceedings, records, and reports of committees are confidential and privileged.

§50-16-204 Restrictions on use or publication of information.

A utilization review, peer review, medical ethics review, quality assurance, or quality improvement committee of a health care facility may use or publish health care information only for the purpose of evaluating matters of medical care, therapy, and treatment for research and statistical purposes. Neither a committee nor the members, agents, or employees of a committee shall disclose the name or identity of any patient whose records have been studied in any report or publication of findings and conclusions of a committee, but a committee and its members, agents, or employees shall protect the identity of any patient whose condition or treatment has been studied and may not disclose or reveal the name of any health care facility patient.

§50-16-205 Data confidential — inadmissible in judicial proceedings.

All data is confidential and is not discoverable or admissible in evidence in any judicial proceeding. However, this section does not affect the discoverability or admissibility in evidence of health care information that is not data as defined in 50-16-201.

§50-16-542 Denial of examination and copying.

(1) A health care provider may deny access to health care information by a patient if the health care provider reasonably concludes that:

(a) knowledge of the health care information would be injurious to the health of the patient;

(b) knowledge of the health care information could reasonably be expected to lead to the patient’s identification of an individual who provided the information in confidence and under circumstances in which confidentiality was appropriate;

(c) knowledge of the health care information could reasonably be expected to cause danger to the life or safety of any individual;

(d) the health care information is data, as defined in 50-16-201, that is compiled and is used solely for utilization review, peer review, medical ethics review, quality assurance, or quality improvement;

(e) the health care information might contain information protected from disclosure pursuant to 50-15-121 and 50-15-122 [vital statistics];

(f) the health care provider obtained the information from a person other than the patient; or

(g) access to the health care information is otherwise prohibited by law.

(2) Except as provided in 50-16-521 [health care representatives], a health care provider may deny access to health care information by a patient who is a minor if:

(a) the patient is committed to a mental health facility; or

(b) the patient’s parents or guardian has not authorized the health care provider to disclose the patient’s health care information.

(3) If a health care provider denies a request for examination and copying under this section, the provider, to the extent possible, shall segregate health care information for which access has been denied under subsection (1) from information for which access cannot be denied and permit the patient to examine or copy the information subject to disclosure.

(4) If a health care provider denies a patient’s request for examination and copying, in whole or in part, under subsection (1)(a) or (1)(c), the provider shall permit examination and copying of the record by the patient’s spouse, adult child, or parent or guardian or by another health care provider who is providing health care services to the patient for the same condition as the health care provider denying the request. The health care provider denying the request shall inform the patient of the patient’s right to select another health care provider under this subsection.