Chapter 12 - § 12.6 • MEDICAL PEER REVIEW PRIVILEGE

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 12.6 • MEDICAL PEER REVIEW PRIVILEGE

Hospitals and organizations within the medical profession often have peer review committees that oversee the professional conduct of physicians and the quality or appropriateness of their patient care. The peer review statute, codified at C.R.S. §§ 12-30-201, et seq., provides that investigations, examinations, hearings, meetings, or other proceedings of a peer review committee are exempt from the provision of any law requiring that the proceedings or records of the proceedings be open to public inspection. C.R.S. § 12-30-204(15). Safeguarding the confidentiality of the review committee proceedings and records ensures "that committee members are able to openly, honestly, and objectively study and review the conduct of their peers." In re Colo. Med. Bd., 2014 CO 51, ¶ 13 (quoting Posey v. Dist. Ct., 586 P.2d 36, 37 (Colo. 1978)); see also Franco v. Dist. Ct. of Denver, 641 P.2d 922, 925 (Colo. 1982) (stating that "[p]eer review statutes . . . are directed towards the attainment of an elevated quality of health care at a reasonably low cost to the patient" and that such statutes are "based on the premise that the evaluation of the professional competency of doctors is best left to the specialized expertise of their peers, subject only to limited judicial surveillance"). To ensure the confidentiality of these proceedings and records, the statute further provides that, with few exceptions, "the records of an authorized entity, its professional review committee, and its governing board are not subject to subpoena or discovery and are not admissible in any civil suit." C.R.S. § 12-30-204(11)(a); In re Colo. Med. Bd., 2014 CO 51, ¶¶ 1, 7 (holding that a "civil suit" also includes "administrative proceedings of an adjudicatory nature" like an administrative hearing regarding the denial of a physician's medical license).

The statute sets forth several exceptions where such records are subject to subpoena and available to use, including by: (1) parties in an appeal or de novo proceeding brought in the context of a professional review committee, C.R.S. § 12-30-204(11)(b)(I); (2) "a...