Steven Petramale of Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin. Courtesy photo
For years, the defense bar has asserted the privileges and protections afforded by the Peer Review Protection Act, MCARE Act, Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act, and the Health Care Quality Improvement Act. They relied on these privileges in the face of pointed discovery in order to safeguard certain physician-related or event-related documentation (including physician credential files, employment files, employment applications, event reports and peer review reports). However, between 2015 and 2020, the Pennsylvania Superior Court issued four opinions that limited the protections afforded by the statutes, and unequivocally stated that physical credentialing files were not protected from discovery in malpractice litigation. The drastic narrowing of discovery privileges and creation of bright line rules potentially threaten the objective set forth by Congress to improve the quality of medical care.
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