19.12 Proceedings in Non-Judicial Venues

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

19.12 Proceedings in Non-Judicial Venues. Proceedings against a mental health professional in other venues may have a significant impact on malpractice litigation. First, discipline and ethics proceedings tend to proceed on a much faster schedule than in the trial court. Therefore, a discipline or ethics complaint filed shortly after the circumstance that may give rise to a malpractice complaint would likely result in disclosure of information and a finding on the merits well before the statute of limitations has run. Such proceedings could have at least two significant effects.

First, although portions of most discipline proceedings are kept confidential,⁶⁰ the information provided by the mental health professional, including admissions, may or may not be privileged depending upon which type of professional is involved and whether a peer review committee provides information. For instance, physicians, which include psychiatrists, are governed by a specific, interlocking privilege statute that renders most communications with the licensing board absolutely privileged.⁶¹ However, the licensing statutes for other mental health professionals provide that the proceedings and records received as part of the board investigation are confidential, but not necessarily protected from discovery.⁶² More important in this context, the conclusion or effect of the licensing board...