It is the intent of the General Assembly to provide protection for those individuals who are members of peer review groups which evaluate the quality and efficiency of professional health care providers and to protect the confidentiality of their records.
(Code 1933, § 84-7601, enacted by Ga. L. 1980, p. 1282, § 1.)
Law reviews.- For article, "The Shield Remains: An Overview of the Georgia Peer Review Privilege," see 11 Ga. St. B. J. 16 (2005).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Legislative intent.
- General Assembly did not intend to eliminate, through peer review immunity, a hospital's responsibility to the hospital's patients to exercise reasonable care in ensuring that medical care providers using the hospital's facilities are qualified. McCall v. Henry Med. Ctr., Inc., 250 Ga. App. 679, 551 S.E.2d 739 (2001).
Georgia peer review and medical review statutes, which establish the privilege for the proceedings and records of peer review organizations and medical review committees, also provide for immunity to participants and witnesses in such proceedings under: (1) O.C.G.A. § 31-7-130, which sets forth the intent of the Georgia General Assembly; (2) O.C.G.A. § 31-7-132(a), which provides immunity from liability for peer review; (3) O.C.G.A. §§ 31-7-133(a) and31-7-141, which provide immunity for medical review committee members from claims for damages filed by health care providers; and (4) O.C.G.A. § 31-7-143, which provides that peer review and medical review proceedings are both absolutely privileged. Patton v. St. Francis Hosp., 260 Ga. App. 202, 581 S.E.2d 551 (2003).
Purpose of hospital medical review committees.
- Purpose for establishment of hospital medical review committees is to foster delivery of quality health care services by providing a method for in-house review of clinical work performed in a hospital. Eubanks v. Ferrier, 245 Ga. 763, 267 S.E.2d 230 (1980).
No immunity for negligence when peer review not involved.
- Health care organization was not engaging in peer review, and thus, was not immune from liability for the organization's negligence under O.C.G.A. § 31-7-130, when a Medicaid patient died as the result of having been denied an operation based on allegedly negligent precertification review of the patient's case by the organization. Fulton-DeKalb Hosp. Auth. v. Dawson, 270 Ga. 376, 509 S.E.2d 28 (1998).
Cited in Fulton-DeKalb Hosp. Auth. v. Dawson, 270 Ga. 376, 509 S.E.2d 28 (1998); Patton v. St. Francis Hosp., 246 Ga. App. 4, 539 S.E.2d 526 (2000).
RESEARCH REFERENCES
ALR.
- Scope and extent of protection from disclosure of medical peer review proceedings relating to claim in medical malpractice action, 69 A.L.R.5th 559.