(a) Members of the Board, committees and employees of the hospital while acting within the scope of their authority as directors, officers, committee members or employees shall not be subject to any personal or civil liability resulting from the exercise of any of the corporation's purposes, duties or responsibilities, unless such conduct is determined by a Court of competent jurisdiction to constitute willful wrongdoing, gross negligence or reckless disregard.
(b) All proceedings and records or proceedings concerning medical staff review, hospital review and other reviews of medical care conducted by the utilization review committee, quality assurance committee, medical review committee, surgical review committee, peer review committee or disciplinary committee of physicians and other health care practitioners or personnel or on behalf of individual physicians, when the reviews are required by Federal or Territorial law, rules and regulations or as a condition of accreditation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals or certification by the Health Care Financing Administration are privileged and confidential.
(c) A physician or health care practitioner licensed pursuant to Title 27, chapters 1 and 2, Virgin Islands Code, who is a member of the utilization review committee, quality assurance committee, medical review committee, surgical review committee, peer review committee or disciplinary committee that is a requirement of accreditation of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals or certification by the Health Care Financing Administration is immune from civil liability for acting within the scope of the function of the committee.
(d) Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, all professional competence review records are privileged and confidential.
(e) A professional competence committee may furnish professional competence review records or information to other professional review bodies, state or federal government agencies and national accrediting bodies without waiving any privilege against disclosure.
(f) A professional competence committee may furnish professional competence review records to the physician who is the subject of the professional competence review activity without waving any privilege against disclosure.
(g) A professional competence committee may furnish directory information showing membership, clinical privileges, provider panel or other practice status of a physician with the health care entity to anyone without waiving the privilege against disclosure.
(h) There shall be no civil liability for any member of a peer review committee, ethics committee, or quality assurance committee, or for any person who files a complaint with or appears as a witness before those committees, for any acts done with due diligence in the furtherance of the purpose for which the peer review committee, ethics committee, or quality assurance committee was established.
(i) Provision to the board of information protected by this section does not waive or otherwise affect the confidentiality of the records.
(j) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, a court may order a peer review body to provide information or discovery in any proceeding in which the health care professional is accused of a felony, civil action, or any professional misconduct if the court determines that disclosure is in the best interest of justice and in the public interest and that the information being sought can be obtained from no other source. If the court orders disclosure, the identity of the patient may not be disclosed without the consent of the patient or his legal representative.
(k) For the purposes of this section, unless the context indicates otherwise, the following words shall have the following meanings:
(1) “Board” means the Board of Licensure of Medicine, Surgery, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing, Nurse-Midwifery and Psychology;
(2) “Health care practitioner” means physicians and all others certified, registered or licensed in the healing arts, including, but not limited to, nurses, podiatrists, optometrists, chiropractors, physical therapists, dentists, psychologists and physicians' assistants.
(3) “Health care facility” means the Roy L. Schneider Hospital, Juan F. Luis Hospital, the Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center and clinics, owned, operated or managed by the Department of Health;
(4) “Professional competence committee” means any of the following when engaging in professional competence review activity:
(A) an individual or group, such as a medical staff officer, department or committee, to which a health care facility delegates responsibility for professional competence review activity;
(B) entities and persons, including contractors, consultants, attorneys and staff, who assist in performing professional competence review activities;
(5) “Professional competence review activity” means study, evaluation, investigation, recommendation or action, by or on behalf of a health care entity and carried out by a professional competence committee, necessary to:
(A) maintain or improve the quality of care rendered in, through or by the health care facility or by physicians;
(B) reduce morbidity and morality; or
(C) establish and enforce appropriate standards of professional qualification, competence, conduct or performance.
(6) “Adverse professional competence review action” means a professional review activity that may result in an action to reduce, restrict, suspend, deny, revoke or fail to grant or review a physician's membership, clinical privileges, clinical practice authority or professional certification in a hospital or other health care entity.
(7) “Professional competence review records” means the minutes, files, notes, records, reports, statements, memoranda, data bases, proceedings, finding and work product prepared at the request of or generated by a professional competence review committee relating to professional competence review activity. Records received or considered by a professional competence committee during professional competence review activity are not “professional competence review records” if the records are individual medical or clinical records or any other record that was created for purposes other than professional competence review activity and is available from a source other than a professional competence committee.
(8) “Quality assurance committee” means an interdisciplinary committee established by the Board of Trustees or administrative staff of a health care facility providing medical, dental, optometric care, whose function is to monitor and evaluate patient care, and to identify, study, and correct deficiencies and seek improvements in the patient care delivery process.
(9) “Records of quality assurance committees” shall mean recordings, transcripts, minutes, summaries, and reports of committee meetings and conclusions contained therein.