Reginelli v. Boggs — Oct. 23, 2015 (Summary)

PEER REVIEW PRIVILEGE

Reginelli v. Boggs
Nos. 1584 WDA 2014, 1585 WDA 2014 (Pa. Super. Ct. Oct. 23, 2015), aff’d, J-25A-2017, 2018 WL 1473633 (Pa. Mar. 27, 2018).

A physician group and hospital appealed an order directing the group employing a physician to produce the physician’s employee performance file after an allegation of negligence against the physician. The hospital on appeal raised two issues: (1) whether the order granting the plaintiff’s motion to compel is appealable when that order compels production under Pennsylvania’s Peer Review Protection Act and (2) whether the trial court erred in ordering the production of the physician’s performance file which contained information that was the result of the review and evaluation of the Director of Emergency Services at the hospital in accordance with the Pennsylvania Peer Review Protection Act, and therefore is privileged information and protected from discovery.

The court held that the order granting the motion to compel discovery and production of the performance file was an appealable order. The court further held that because the only professional health care providers who may conduct privileged peer review are either direct practitioners or administrators of a health care facility, the file was not privileged. Additionally, the court noted that because the performance file was shared by the physician’s employer with the hospital, any privilege that would have existed was destroyed via disclosure.