Nebraska Statutes 71-7912. Confidentiality; discovery; availability of medical records, documents, or information; limitation; burden of proof
(1) The proceedings, records, minutes, and reports of a peer review committee shall be held in confidence and shall not be subject to discovery or introduction into evidence in any civil action. No person who attends a meeting of a peer review committee, works for or on behalf of a peer review committee, provides information to a peer review committee, or participates in a peer review activity as an officer, director, employee, or member of a professional health care service entity or an officer, director, employee, or member of the governing board of a facility which is a health care provider shall be permitted or required to testify in any such civil action as to any evidence or other matters produced or presented during the proceedings or activities of the peer review committee or as to any findings, recommendations, evaluations, opinions, or other actions of the peer review committee or any members thereof.
Terms Used In Nebraska Statutes 71-7912
- Action: shall include any proceeding in any court of this state. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- 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.
- Peer review: means the procedure by which health care providers evaluate the quality and efficiency of services ordered or performed by other health care providers, including practice analysis, inpatient hospital and extended care facility utilization review, medical audit, ambulatory care review, root cause analysis, claims review, underwriting assistance, and the compliance of a hospital, nursing home, or other health care facility operated by a health care provider with the standards set by an association of health care providers and with applicable laws, rules, and regulations. See Nebraska Statutes 71-7909
- Person: shall include bodies politic and corporate, societies, communities, the public generally, individuals, partnerships, limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, and associations. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Professional health care service entity: means an entity which is organized under the Nebraska Nonprofit Corporation Act, the Nebraska Professional Corporation Act, the Nebraska Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, or the Uniform Partnership Act of 1998 and which renders health care services through individuals credentialed under the Uniform Credentialing Act. See Nebraska Statutes 71-7910.01
- Testify: Answer questions in court.
(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent discovery or use in any civil action of medical records, documents, or information otherwise available from original sources and kept with respect to any patient in the ordinary course of business, but the records, documents, or information shall be available only from the original sources and cannot be obtained from the peer review committee’s proceedings or records.
(3) A health care provider or individual claiming the privileges under this section has the burden of proving that the communications and documents are protected.