Joint Committee on the Judiciary
The Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association (MHA), on behalf of our member hospitals, health systems, physician organizations, and allied health care providers, appreciates the opportunity to submit comments in opposition to legislation that would make changes to the medical peer review process in Massachusetts.
The purpose of medical peer review is to provide a confidential process for identifying, tracking, and resolving clinical performance and medical errors in their early stages. Through a confidential forum, providers can be examined and a facility can develop a process to change clinical practices to improve the delivery of care to patients. HB1547 would inappropriately allow any outside party, including attorneys and the general public, to seek a copy of medical peer review proceedings for future judicial or administrative procedures. This would negate the confidential process that has been adopted nationally and potentially prevent many providers from requesting a confidential review of services to determine what improvements can be made to a clinical practice. As such, MHA and our members strongly oppose HB1547.
Thank you for the opportunity to offer testimony on these important matters. If you have any questions or require further information, please contact Michael Sroczynski, MHA's Senior Vice President of Government Advocacy at (781) 262-6055 or msroczynski@mhalink.org