Patient Safety Data Sharing and Protection From Legal Discovery

Abstract

The Institute of Medicine report, To Err Is Human, recommended that collaborative networks of health care organizations should exchange information regarding medical errors to prevent the same errors from being repeated. Another recommendation, that Congress enact legislation protecting such exchanged information from legal discovery, has not occurred. Even if such legislation does pass, it may conflict with existing Federal discovery requirements. Nevertheless, existing State and Federal law may offer some protection. The most promising source of existing protection for all members of patient safety collaboratives is 42 U.S.C. §299c-3(c), which extends protection to data collection sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The Department of Health and Human Services’ confidentiality certificates and State peer review protection laws may offer little if any protection. However, with AHRQ sponsorship and the proper structure, health care organizations may be able to safely exchange information with one another without fear of liability or disclosure of sensitive information.