Text of Statute

Any information, data, reports, or records made available to a quality assurance committee or utilization committee of a hospital or of any not-for-profit health care corporation that is a member of the hospital or of which the hospital is a member shall be confidential and shall be used by the committee and the committee members only in the exercise of the proper functions of the committee. Any information, data, reports, or records made available to a utilization committee of a state or local medical society composed of doctors of medicine or doctors of osteopathic medicine and surgery shall be confidential and shall be used by the committee and the committee members only in the exercise of the proper functions of the committee. A right of action similar to that a patient may have against an attending physician for misuse of information, data, reports, or records arising out of the physician-patient relationship shall accrue against a member of a quality assurance committee or utilization committee for misuse of any information, data, reports, or records furnished to the committee by an attending physician. No physician, surgeon, institution, or hospital furnishing information, data, reports, or records to a committee with respect to any patient examined or treated by the physician or surgeon or confined in the institution or hospital shall, by reason of the furnishing, be deemed liable in damages to any person, or be held to answer for betrayal of a professional confidence within the meaning and intent of section 4731.22 of the Revised Code. Information, data, or reports furnished to a utilization committee of a state or local medical society shall contain no name of any person involved therein.

As used in this section, "utilization committee" is the committee established to administer a utilization review plan of a hospital, of a not-for-profit health care corporation which is a member of the hospital or of which the hospital is a member, or of an extended care facility as provided in the "Health Insurance for the Aged Act," 79 Stat. 313 (1965), 42 U.S.C. 1395x(k).

HISTORY: 132 v H 801 (Eff 12-14-67); 133 v H 1 (Eff 3-18-69); 139 v H 317 (Eff 8-27-82); 143 v H 347 (Eff 7-18-90); 146 v H 117 (Eff 9-29-95); 147 v S 111. Eff 3-17-98.