Medical Peer Review

Peer review in the medical context is a process in which a professional body evaluates a practitioner’s competence and/or professional conduct to determine whether the practitioner has met relevant standards of care in the performance of his/her duties.  Peer review may be used to determine a practitioner’s clinical privileges or membership in a professional society. Peer review is primarily concerned with promoting health care quality and patient safety. This topic covers laws about the confidentiality and disclosure of information held by a medical board or obtained through a peer review process.