The information on this page was last updated by Horty, Springer & Mattern on April 5, 2024.
ILLINOIS
PEER REVIEW
225 ILCS 60/5. Service on committees; exemption from civil liabilities.
Because the candid and conscientious evaluation of clinical practices is essential to the provision of adequate health care, it is the policy of this State to encourage peer review by health care providers. Therefore, while serving upon any committee whose purpose, directly or indirectly, is internal quality control or medical study to reduce morbidity or mortality, or for improving patient care or physician services within a hospital duly licensed under the Hospital Licensing Act [210 ILCS 85/1 et seq.], or within a professional association of persons licensed under this Act, or the improving or benefiting of patient care and treatment whether within a hospital or not, or for the purpose of professional discipline, any person serving on such committee, and any person providing service to such committees, shall not be liable for civil damages as a result of their acts, omissions, decisions, or any other conduct in connection with their duties on such committees, except those involving wilful or wanton misconduct.
Information considered shall be afforded the same status as is information concerning medical studies by Part 21 of Article VIII of the “Code of Civil Procedure,” as now or hereafter amended. [735 ILCS 5/8-2101 et seq.]
210 ILCS 85/6.17. Protection of and confidential access to medical records and information.
***
(g) All hospital and patient information, interviews, reports, statements, memoranda, and other data obtained or created by a tissue bank or federally designated organ procurement agency from the medical records review described in subsection (f) shall be privileged, strictly confidential, and used only for the purposes put forth in subsection (f) of this Section and shall not be admissible as evidence nor discoverable in any action of any kind in court or before a tribunal, board, agency, or person.
***
210 ILCS 85/10.2. Liability of individuals and hospital.
Because the candid and conscientious evaluation of clinical practices is essential to the provision of adequate hospital care, it is the policy of this State to encourage peer review by health care providers. Therefore, no hospital and no individual who is a member, agent, or employee of a hospital, hospital medical staff, hospital administrative staff, or hospital governing board shall be liable for civil damages as a result of the acts, omissions, decisions, or any other conduct, except those involving wilful or wanton misconduct, of a medical utilization committee, medical review committee, patient care audit committee, medical care evaluation committee, quality review committee, credential committee, peer review committee, or any other committee or individual whose purpose, directly or indirectly, is internal quality control or medical study to reduce morbidity or mortality, or for improving patient care within a hospital, or the improving or benefiting of patient care and treatment, whether within a hospital or not, or for the purpose of professional discipline including institution of a summary suspension in accordance with Section 10.4 of this Act and the medical staff bylaws. Nothing in this Section shall relieve any individual or hospital from liability arising from treatment of a patient. For the purposes of this Section, “wilful and wanton misconduct” means a course of action that shows actual or deliberate intention to harm or that, if not intentional, shows an utter indifference to or conscious disregard for a person’s own safety and the safety of others.
210 ILCS 85/10.4. Medical staff privileges.
***
C-5) All peer review used for the purpose of credentialing, privileging, disciplinary action, or other recommendations affecting medical staff membership or exercise of clinical privileges, whether relying in whole or in part on internal or external reviews, shall be conducted in accordance with the medical staff bylaws and applicable rules, regulations, or policies of the medical staff. If external review is obtained, any adverse report utilized shall be in writing and shall be made part of the internal peer review process under the bylaws. The report shall also be shared with a medical staff peer review committee and the individual under review. If the medical staff peer review committee or the individual under review prepares a written response to the report of the external peer review within 30 days after receiving such report, the governing board shall consider the response prior to the implementation of any final actions by the governing board which may affect the individual’s medical staff membership or clinical privileges. Any peer review that involves willful or wanton misconduct shall be subject to civil damages as provided for under Section 10.2 of this Act.
***
225 ILCS 100/4. Exemption from civil liability. [Podiatric Medical Practice Act of 1987]
***
(B) While serving upon any professional utilization committee, a professional review organization, a peer review committee, a mediation committee or a board of directors considering such matters of peer review or any review committee sanctioned by the profession or sponsored by its association, a podiatric physician shall not be liable for civil damages as a result of his or her as, omissions or decisions in connection with his or her duties on such committees or boards, except in cases involving willful or wanton misconduct.
735 ILCS 5/8-2101. Information obtained.
All information, interviews, reports, statements, memoranda, recommendations, letters of reference or other third party confidential assessments of a health care practitioner’s professional competence, or other data of the Illinois Department of Public Health, local health departments, the Department of Human Services (as successor to the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities), the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Medical Review Board, Illinois State Medical Society, allied medical societies, health maintenance organizations, medical organizations under contract with health maintenance organizations or with insurance or other health care delivery entities or facilities, tissue banks, organ procurement agencies, physician-owned insurance companies and their agents, committees of ambulatory surgical treatment centers or post-surgical recovery centers or their medical staffs, or committees of licensed or accredited hospitals or their medical staffs, including Patient Care Audit Committees, Medical Care Evaluation Committees, Utilization Review Committees, Credential Committees and Executive Committees, or their designees (but not the medical records pertaining to the patient), used in the course of internal quality control or of medical study for the purpose of reducing morbidity or mortality, or for improving patient care or increasing organ and tissue donation, shall be privileged, strictly confidential and shall be used only for medical research, increasing organ and tissue donation, the evaluation and improvement of quality care, or granting, limiting or revoking staff privileges or agreements for services, except that in any health maintenance organization proceeding to decide upon a physician’s services or any hospital or ambulatory surgical treatment center proceeding to decide upon a physician’s staff privileges, or in any judicial review of either, the claim of confidentiality shall not be invoked to deny such physician access to or use of data upon which such a decision was based.
735 ILCS 5/8-2102. Admissibility of evidence.
Such information, records, reports, statements, notes, memoranda, or other data, shall not be admissible as evidence, nor discoverable in any action of any kind in any court or before any tribunal, board, agency or person. The disclosure of any such information or data, whether proper, or improper, shall not waive or have any effect upon its confidentiality, nondiscoverability, or nonadmissability.
225 ILCS 25/54. Exemption from civil liability for peer review committees. [Illinois Dental Practice Act]
While serving upon any Peer Review Committee, any dentist shall not be liable for civil damages as a result of his or her decisions, findings or recommendations in connection with his or her duties on such committee, except decisions, findings or recommendations involving his or her wilful or wanton misconduct. Furthermore, any professional organization, association or society of dentists, or component thereof, which sponsors, sanctions or otherwise operates or participates in peer review activities is hereby afforded the same privileges and immunities afforded to any member of the peer review committee.
225 ILCS 110/33. Exemption from civil liability for peer review committees. [Illinois Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Practice Act]
While serving upon any peer review committee, any speech-language pathologist or audiologist shall not be liable for civil damages as a result of his or her decisions, findings or recommendations in connection with his or her duties on such committee, except decisions, findings or recommendations involving his or her wilful or wanton misconduct.