Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:3715.4 – Confidentiality of risk management and other information
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:3715.4
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Health care provider: means a hospital, as defined in this Subsection, and means a person, corporation, facility, or institution licensed by the state to provide health care or professional services as a physician, hospital, dentist, registered or licensed practical nurse, pharmacist, optometrist, podiatrist, chiropractor, physical therapist, psychologist, social worker, or licensed professional counselor and an officer, employee, or agent thereof acting in the course and scope of his employment. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:3734
- Patient: means a natural person who receives health care from a licensed health care provider. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:3734
- person: includes a body of persons, whether incorporated or not. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:10
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
- Testify: Answer questions in court.
A.(1) The legislature finds and declares that medical professional liability insurers, health care provider professional and public liability trusts created pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 22:46, the office of risk management, and the Patient‘s Compensation Fund have professional liability claim information that would facilitate identification of an underlying cause of an unanticipated, adverse patient outcome or a professional liability loss, or both. The purpose of this Section is to encourage a medical professional liability insurer, health care provider professional and public liability trust created pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 22:46, the office of risk management, and the Patient’s Compensation Fund to use professional liability claim information to conduct studies, review data, and promote practice changes for the purpose of improving patient health care quality or reducing professional liability claims, or both.
(2) Information of any kind, whether created, generated, or compiled by a medical professional liability insurance company, health care provider professional and public liability trust created pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 22:46, the office of risk management, or the Patient’s Compensation Fund, including but not limited to a third-party administrator or risk manager thereof, to identify an underlying cause of an unanticipated, adverse patient outcome or a professional liability loss, or both, and any risk management or loss prevention conclusion or recommendation shall be deemed confidential and shall not be subject to discovery, produced in response to court subpoena or court order, admitted into evidence in any civil action, or subject to the provisions of La. Rev. Stat. 44:1 et seq., the Public Records Act. The foregoing notwithstanding, factual information that is otherwise discoverable from the health care provider, subject to subpoena to the health care provider, or admissible in evidence shall not be deemed confidential because it has been reviewed or used for purposes of risk management or loss prevention, or both, by a medical professional liability insurer, health care provider professional and public liability trust created pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 22:46, the office of risk management, or the Patient’s Compensation Fund.
(3) No individual or person involved in creating, generating, compiling, or analyzing such confidential information or who was in attendance at any meeting in which such information is discussed, created, generated, compiled, or analyzed shall be required to testify in any medical review panel proceeding, arbitration proceeding, or civil action as to any discussion, finding, recommendation, opinion, proceeding, or other action of the medical professional liability insurer, health care provider professional and public liability trust created pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 22:46, the office of risk management, or the Patient’s Compensation Fund.
B. Any court order or judgment ordering production or admissibility in evidence of any information described in the provisions of this Section, except an order for an in camera inspection, shall be deemed to be an interlocutory judgment which may cause irreparable injury and shall be subject to appeal pursuant to the provisions of Code of Civil Procedure Article 2081 et seq.
Acts 2005, No. 63, §1; Acts 2008, No. 415, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 2009.