Dr. Hospitalist
I recently became chief medical officer (CMO) of our hospital. When a hospitalist’s case comes to our patient-care committee, is it appropriate to inform the patient’s primary-care physician (PCP) of the quality issues? Our hospitalists are independent. There are questions of HIPAA. However, several committee members feel that the PCP, who does not come to the hospital, should be informed. Thank you.
K.A., M.D.
Dr. Hospitalist responds:
Good question. While I’ve participated in similar scenarios, keep in mind that I’m a hospitalist like you, not a lawyer. So, with that rejoinder in mind, let’s take this discussion a few steps further and see what happens.
You state: “when a hospitalist’s case comes to our patient-care committee.” Does that mean peer review? If it does, and what you are describing is a committee that handles privileged and confidential information, then you cannot inform the PCP because you would be violating the basic tenets of peer review.
The principle behind peer review is that it allows physicians to confidentially review the cases of their peers. This is to prevent the information contained in peer review from becoming available to a lawyer by subpoena or by discovery in the courts. The Joint Commission has mandated hospital peer review committees since 1952, and the federal government included language regarding peer-review protection in the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986.
Every state has a law on the books, but the specifics and effectiveness of peer review will vary from state to state (see Florida’s Amendment 7, Kentucky, and Massachusetts). The whole idea is to allow for a process to evaluate physician practice or quality concerns without the fear of discovery or subsequent lawsuit. Even the act of referring a case to peer review is considered a confidential action in my state, so just the referral itself may not be discussed. So if you are referring to peer review, the answer is no, you cannot inform the patient’s PCP. HIPAA does not come into the picture here.
On the other hand, let’s assume, for sake of discussion, that you’ve heard a complaint (or several) about a certain hospitalist, Dr. Nogood. You could, if you desired, refer these complaints to peer review.
If so, then you are immediately bound by those rules of confidentiality. If you don’t refer the case, then you could inform the PCP that you have heard a complaint involving Dr. Nogood and that PCP’s patient.
I can’t see how that would violate HIPAA, because the PCP has an established relationship with that patient, and you might be only reporting facts (the complaint), not passing judgment on the quality of care. And I would not even go that far.
Why stop there? Why not tell that PCP exactly what you think of Dr. Nogood and his clinical practice, the details of the complaints against him, and how you think maybe that PCP should send his patients to someone else for better care? Well, you’re the CMO for the hospital. If you go beyond reporting facts and start reporting opinions, then you’ve just opened yourself up to accusations of restraint of trade by Dr. Nogood.
No matter what you may think of Dr. Nogood’s patient care, unless it falls outside the boundaries of acceptable practice (which can only be determined by a peer review committee), then you should not say anything.
