Washington State Supreme Court remands decision on peer review and quality improvement privileges

The Washington State Supreme Court remanded a medical malpractice discovery dispute to the trial court for an in-camera record review relating to the state's peer review and quality improvement statutes. The court analyzed and ruled on three issues: a hospital's records of the initial credentialing and privileging of a staff member are not protected from discovery under the state's peer review and quality improvement privileges; the quality improvement privilege only applies to documents that were created specifically for, and collected and maintained by, a quality improvement committee; and, the quality improvement privilege does not protect a hospital's reasons for terminating or restricting a staff member's privileges.

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