Florida appeals court OKs access to peer review records

The physician under investigation is challenging the judges' decision to make an exception to peer review privilege for state disciplinary actions.

By Amy Lynn Sorrel, AMNews staff. Feb. 26, 2007.

A recent Florida appeals court decision allows the state to access peer review records when it investigates a physician for potential discipline.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal's December 2006 opinion turned on an interpretation of two seemingly conflicting statutes.

One law entitles the state to obtain a report of peer review disciplinary action from a hospital "providing that the investigations, proceedings and records relating to such peer review disciplinary action shall continue to retain their privileged status."

A second rule provides that any records generated by a peer review panel or medical review committee are protected from discovery in any civil or administrative action.

The first measure means that the state only has the right to access a summary report of the hospital's actions against a physician and the grounds for it, said the attorney representing the doctor in the case. Discipline falls under the heading of administrative action; therefore, peer review materials are off-limits, he added.

The court, however, had a different interpretation. When read together, the two laws indicate that the Florida Legislature intended the state Dept. of Health to have limited access to peer review information to launch an inquiry, but those materials would remain confidential for any other purposes, the court concluded. Peer review privilege applies to administrative actions other than a physician disciplinary proceeding, the judges found.