Effective peer review is essential to protect the safety of care provided to patients. Yet the peer review process is filled with landmines. To the extent that there are concerns about a physician’s performance, the physician under review may seek legal recourse if he/she is unhappy with the result of the peer review process. In the context of hospital employment, questions may arise as to whether review of a physician’s performance is discipline or peer review. Some physicians who are the subject of peer review allege that the peer review was not founded and actually was “sham” peer review. Peer review also occurs when credentialing decisions are made, and physicians who dispute the results may assert a variety of challenges, from economic credentialing to antitrust violations.
The term “peer review” is a broad one and also can encompass a group’s own review of its physicians and practitioners. It is important...