Poire et provence peer

Idaho has enacted a broad privilege that protects the confidentiality of credentialing, quality improvement, and similar peer review activities by Idaho hospitals and other health care entities. The statute encourages participation and protects the integrity of such peer review activities by ensuring that peer review communications and proceedings remain confidential, and that participants are immune from liability.Application. The privilege applies to “peer review” activities conducted by “healthcare organizations”. (I.C. § 39-1392).“Health care organization” means a hospital, in-hospital medical staff committee,1 medical society, managed care organization, licensed emergency medical service, group medical practice, or skilled nursing facility.(I.C. § 39-1392a(3)).“Peer review” means the collection, interpretation and analysis of data by a health care organization for the purpose of bettering the system of delivery of health … [Read more...] about Idaho Hospitals and Health Care Entities Peer Review Privilege

BackgroundDr. Steven Valfer is a licensed OB-GYN who was a member of the medical staff at Evanston Northwestern Hospital ("Hospital") until March 16, 2005 when the Hospital's board of directors approved the recommendation to not reappoint him after Dr. Valfer exhausted his fair hearing and appeal rights under the bylaws. The basis of the initial adverse recommendation was a finding by the department chair that there were "multiple surgical cases for which approved indications for the intended procedures appear to be lacking." A previous review of 22 of Dr. Valfer's cases found that at least 50 percent of the surgeries he performed were unnecessary.On March 15, 2007, Dr. Valfer sued the Hospital seeking civil damages for what he claimed was the wrongful termination of his medical staff membership and clinical privileges because the Hospital breached its bylaws. After a lengthy legal and procedural battle, the Hospital filed a motion for summary judgment in February 2014 seeking to … [Read more...] about Illinois Supreme Court Upholds “Willful and Wanton” Immunity Protection in Peer Review Cases

Many higher education institutions are well-versed in Title IX compliance and litigation issues as they relate to gender discrimination claims on account of university conduct, or claims arising out of sexual assaults on campuses.  However, an increasingly concerning area of Title IX litigation, enforcement, and compliance deals with peer gender-based harassment and bullying, including, specifically, harassment and bullying of students that identify as LGBTQ.  University legal departments and Title IX coordinators should consult with counsel to formulate Title IX policies that can limit the impact of these potential claims, in addition to retaining counsel well-versed in peer-harassment issues to handle the defense of underlying lawsuits or to associate with insurance defense counsel.This alert addresses: (i) the types of theories and claims that have been brought against higher education institutions and other covered entities due to peer gender-based harassment; and (ii) … [Read more...] about Title IX Implications for Higher Education Institutions Over Peer Gender-Based Harassment

The Pennsylvania Peer Review Protection Act, 63 P.S. § 425.1 et seq., is a statute that, among other things, prohibits the proceedings and records of an internal review committee convened to evaluate the quality of care provided by a health care provider(s) from disclosure. In essence, the purpose of this portion of the Act is to allow health care organizations to perform honest, critical analysis of their health care providers, without fear that the contents of their review will become public or be used against them in a medical malpractice lawsuit.The confidentiality provision of the Peer Review Protection Act is frequently used by hospitals, physicians, and health care organizations to prevent internal records from disclosure in malpractice litigation. In practice, this confidentiality provision is often employed more broadly than the statute permits, and is used to justify the withholding of internal records and documents that were not truly created as part of any internal … [Read more...] about Peer Review Protection Act Does Not Shield All Internal Hospital Documents

On February 28, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey issued its opinion in Kasilag v. Hartford Investment Financial Services, LLC, the second Section 36(b) “excessive fee” case to proceed to trial following the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Jones v. Harris Associates L.P. The lawsuit was brought by shareholders of six mutual funds advised by defendants Hartford Investment Financial Services, LLC and Hartford Funds Management Company, LLP (collectively, Hartford). The plaintiffs alleged that the advisory fees retained by Hartford, after delegating “virtually all of the actual investment management services and activities” to an unaffiliated sub-adviser, were excessive in relation to the “woefully minimal” services performed by Hartford. Judge Reneé Marie Bumb determined that the plaintiffs failed to meet their burden to demonstrate that the defendants charged excessive fees in breach of their fiduciary duty under … [Read more...] about New Jersey District Court Rules for Defense in Hartford Section 36(b) Excessive Fee Case