What Every Health Lawyer Should Know About the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005

• February 26, 2020

• Marilyn Hanzal

Abstract 

Fifteen years after the passage of the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (PSQIA), providers can feel more confident taking advantage of the benefits of the law, i.e., to conduct frank and honest reviews of patient care incidents, submit the materials to a third party Patient Safety Organization (PSO), and benefit from the review of multiple providers throughout the PSO. This article looks at five documents that were ordered to be produced by a trial judge in Illinois. Ultimately, the Illinois Appellate Court upheld the privilege and laid out a clear roadmap for providers to follow when deciding to create or evaluate a quality improvement program. The court distinguished the federal quality improvement law from the narrow Illinois peer review statute, using the plain language of each law to explain how the hospital complied with the PSQIA. Understanding the complexity of determining whether a provider’s quality improvement program complies with laws and protects materials generated in response to a patient incident is critical, whether drafting provider policies and procedures, defending the provider in a professional liability claim, conducting professional liability due diligence as part of a corporate transaction, identifying opportunities to implement quality review programs in life sciences or software development, or responding to cybersecurity incidents. This article explains the appellate court’s opinion and provides practical considerations for health lawyers advising their clients.

ARTICLE TAGS

• Patient Care Liability and Litigation