311.377 Waiver of claim for damages by applicant for or grantee of staff privileges
762 words·~3 min read·
/ky/311-377A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
-- Records confidential -- Exceptions -- Federal immunity provisions.
(1)Any person who applies for, or is granted staff privileges after June 17, 1978, by
any health services organization subject to licensing under the certificate of need
and licensure provisions of KRS Chapter 216B, shall be deemed to have waived as
a condition of such application or grant, any claim for damages for any good faith
action taken by any person who is a member, participant in or employee of or who
furnishes information, professional counsel, or services to any committee, board,
commission, or other entity which is duly constituted by any licensed hospital,
licensed hospice, licensed home health agency, health insurer, health maintenance
organization, health services corporation, organized medical staff, medical society,
or association affiliated with the American Medical Association, American Podiatry
Association, American Dental Association, American Osteopathic Association, or
the American Hospital Association, or a medical care foundation affiliated with
such a medical society or association, or governmental or quasigovernmental
agency when the entity is performing the designated function of review of
credentials or retrospective review and evaluation of the competency of professional
acts or conduct of other health care personnel. This subsection shall have equal
application to, and the waiver be effective for, those persons who, subsequent to
June 17, 1978, continue to exercise staff privileges previously granted by any such
health services organization.
(2)At all times in performing a designated professional review function, the
proceedings, records, opinions, conclusions, and recommendations of any
committee, board, commission, medical staff, professional standards review
organization, or other entity, as referred to in subsection
(1)of this section, shall be
confidential and privileged and shall not be subject to discovery, subpoena, or
introduction into evidence, in any civil action in any court, including but not limited
to medical malpractice actions, actions arising out of review of credentials or
retrospective review and evaluation as referred to in subsection
(1)of this section,
and actions by an applicant for or grantee of staff privileges as referred to in
subsection
(1)of this section, or in any administrative proceeding before any board,
body, or committee, whether federal, state, county, or city, except as specifically
provided with regard to the board in KRS 311.605(2). The confidentiality and
privilege protections of this subsection shall only be available to a person or entity
that attests to participating in a patient safety and quality improvement initiative,
including the program established by the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement
Act of 2005, 42 U.S.C. secs. 299b-21 to 299b-26. This subsection shall not apply to
any proceedings or matters governed exclusively by federal law or federal
regulation.
(3)Nothing in subsection
(2)of this section shall be construed to restrict or limit the
right to discover or use in any civil action or other administrative proceeding any
evidence, document, or record which is subject to discovery independently of the
proceedings of the entity to which subsection
(1)of this section refers.
(4)No person who presents or offers evidence in proceedings described in subsection
(2)of this section or who is a member of any entity before which such evidence is
presented or offered may refuse to testify in discovery or upon a trial of any civil
action as to any evidence, document, or record described in subsection
(3)of this
section or as to any information within his own knowledge, except as provided in
subsection
(5)of this section.
(5)No person shall be permitted or compelled to testify concerning his testimony or the
testimony of others except that of a defendant given in any proceeding referred to in
subsection
(2)of this section, or as to any of his opinions formed as a result of the
proceeding.
(6)In any action in which the denial, termination, or restriction of staff membership or
privileges by any health care facility shall be in issue, agents, employees, or other
representatives of a health care entity may with the consent of the health care entity
testify concerning any evidence presented in proceedings related to the facility's
denial of staff membership or privileges.
(7)Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict or prevent the presentation of
testimony, records, findings, recommendations, evaluations, opinions, or other
actions of any entity described in subsection
(1)of this section, in any statutory or
administrative proceeding related to the functions or duties of the entity.
(8)In addition to the foregoing, the immunity provisions of the federal Health Care
Quality Improvement Act of 1986, P.L. 99-660, shall be effective arising under state
laws as of July 15, 1988.