May 24, 2012

A Peer Review Reminder to Take Caution with Documentation

Sunday, January 30, 2011
Health Law & Managed Care / Litigation / Trial Practice
3rd Circuit (incl. bankruptcy) / Pennsylvania
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Last month, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania ruled that a handwritten nurse’s note was not protected by the peer review privilege. The court specifically denied peer review protection because the note was not part of the proceedings or record of a peer review committee, nor was it derived from a peer review committee’s evaluation or incident review. Instead, the court compared the note to an unprotected incident report or recording log. See Ellison v. Women & Children’s Hosp., W.D. Pa., No. 08-313 (12/10/10) at http://op.bna.com/hl.nsf/r?Open=mapi-8c5lj.  Although this case was not decided under Wisconsin state law, the applicable peer review law is similar – reminding providers to take caution with documentation as it relates to peer review issues. 

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