RS 3715.4 - Confidentiality of risk management and other information
A.(1) The legislature finds and declares that medical professional liability insurers, health care provider professional and public liability trusts created pursuant to R.S. 22:46, the office of risk management, and the Patient's Compensation Fund have professional liability claim information that would facilitate identification of an underlying cause of an unanticipated, adverse patient outcome or a professional liability loss, or both. The purpose of this Section is to encourage a medical professional liability insurer, health care provider professional and public liability trust created pursuant to R.S. 22:46, the office of risk management, and the Patient's Compensation Fund to use professional liability claim information to conduct studies, review data, and promote practice changes for the purpose of improving patient health care quality or reducing professional liability claims, or both.
(2) Information of any kind, whether created, generated, or compiled by a medical professional liability insurance company, health care provider professional and public liability trust created pursuant to R.S. 22:46, the office of risk management, or the Patient's Compensation Fund, including but not limited to a third-party administrator or risk manager thereof, to identify an underlying cause of an unanticipated, adverse patient outcome or a professional liability loss, or both, and any risk management or loss prevention conclusion or recommendation shall be deemed confidential and shall not be subject to discovery, produced in response to court subpoena or court order, admitted into evidence in any civil action, or subject to the provisions of R.S. 44:1 et seq., the Public Records Act. The foregoing notwithstanding, factual information that is otherwise discoverable from the health care provider, subject to subpoena to the health care provider, or admissible in evidence shall not be deemed confidential because it has been reviewed or used for purposes of risk management or loss prevention, or both, by a medical professional liability insurer, health care provider professional and public liability trust created pursuant to R.S. 22:46, the office of risk management, or the Patient's Compensation Fund.
(3) No individual or person involved in creating, generating, compiling, or analyzing such confidential information or who was in attendance at any meeting in which such information is discussed, created, generated, compiled, or analyzed shall be required to testify in any medical review panel proceeding, arbitration proceeding, or civil action as to any discussion, finding, recommendation, opinion, proceeding, or other action of the medical professional liability insurer, health care provider professional and public liability trust created pursuant to R.S. 22:46, the office of risk management, or the Patient's Compensation Fund.
B. Any court order or judgment ordering production or admissibility in evidence of any information described in the provisions of this Section, except an order for an in camera inspection, shall be deemed to be an interlocutory judgment which may cause irreparable injury and shall be subject to appeal pursuant to the provisions of Code of Civil Procedure Article 2081 et seq.
Acts 2005, No. 63, §1; Acts 2008, No. 415, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 2009.