Don’t Get it Twisted: The Contortion and Corrosion of the PSWP Privilege – Legal
Update for Healthcare Quality Professionals
Event Date: Friday, November 12, 2021, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EST
Fees: Non-member: $15.00, Member: Free
Presenters:
Julie Janeway, MSA, JD
Linda Weirauch, RN, MSN, CPHQ, LGBC
1.0 CPHQ continuing education credit
Objectives:
1. Attendees will learn what is the PSQIA Act of 2005
2. Participants will understand the importance of the PSQIA in healthcare quality
3. Attendees will learn about the Patient Safety Work Product Privilege
4. Participants will develop an understanding of the confidentiality and privilege
protections for the Patient Safety Work Product
5. Attendees will develop processes to assess and ensure organizations
demonstrate understanding how information becomes patient safety work
product, how patient safety work product may be disclosed and the penalties for
disclosures in violation of the protections.
The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (PSQIA) is the federal law that provides for the Patient Safety Work Product Privilege (PSWP), among other things. This privilege maintains the confidentiality of Patient Safety Event analyses and investigation, peer review discussions and proceedings, and other included documents, information, and processes, and protects the included information and documents from being revealed for use in medical malpractice cases, administrative cases, and even criminal proceedings. But with every assertion of the privilege there seems to be some hyper-microscopic judicial review of the organization’s compliance with the statutory requirements or the way the PSQIA compliance is plead to the court by attorneys representing the healthcare organization. That results in yet another precedent being set regarding some extremely minor flaw that will contribute to the further twisting and erosion of the protections afforded to PSWP by the PSQIA. In addition, plaintiff attorneys and government attorneys are getting pretty crafty in an attempt to get around the prohibition against subpoenaing such information as well. Come hear an up-to-the-minute update on what your organization should do, should not do, and what not to let its attorneys do with regard to maintaining the confidentiality and privilege of PSWP. Help save the PSQIA!
The resource booklet discussed in this training is available on MIMAHQ.org.
Brief Presenters' Bio:
Julie Janeway is a Health Law attorney with 25 years’ experience, and national healthcare consultant with a demonstrated history of working in the health law industry.
She has over two decades of experience as a highly trained and successful law school Health Law and Business Law, and graduate level Healthcare Administration Professor. Skilled in healthcare (and related fields) compliance law (especially compliance program development and CAP/CIA administration), healthcare professional
licensing/disciplinary defense, medical malpractice/professional liability defense,mpharmacy law, business and commercial law and transactions, risk management and
quality improvement/patient safety, contract law, nonprofit organization development and growth, employment law, real estate/real property law, and healthcare consulting, education and training, and other areas. Julie is a strong business development and improvement professional with a MSA focused in Healthcare and Healthcare Business Administration, and an undergraduate degree in Business Administration. She is an effective, engaging, and dynamic presenter and trainer with decades of experience speaking and educating all over North America. Julie has published a number of books, book chapters, white papers. and articles on legal, healthcare, and related topics.
Linda Weirauch is a registered nurse with over twenty-five years’ experience in leadership, management, and quality in a variety of healthcare settings including outpatient physician practices, acute care and critical illness recovery hospitals. She is currently the Market Director of Quality Management, Risk, and Infection Control in a national healthcare system, where she has directed efforts that have improved patients' quality outcomes, prevented risks in clinical care, and improved patient safety. In this capacity, she has led initiatives in reducing hospital readmissions, decreasing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) as well as achieving Hospital of Excellence recognition in 2018 and 2019. Linda is a national go-to resource in the field of healthcare quality, clinical risk reduction, and patient safety. In addition to her RN, Linda has earned her Master of Science in Nursing, majoring in Leadership and Management, graduating with high honors. Along with her Certification in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), Linda also holds a green belt certification in Lean Six Sigma- Healthcare. She is actively involved with the Michigan Association for Healthcare Quality, the National Association for Healthcare Quality, the Association of Professionals in Infection Control, the American Nurses Association, and Sigma Theta Tau International Nurses Society.
#PatientSafety #QualityImprovement #MAHQ #AHRQ #PSQIA #PSWP
#Reporting #PatientOutcomes #HealthcareQuality #RiskManagement
#VoluntaryReporting #SafetyEvent #EventReporting #Investigation #Confidential
#PrivilegeProtections #PatientSafetyWorkProduct #Compliance
#StatutoryRequirements #MedicalMalpractice #OrganizationalCompliance
Michigan Association for Healthcare Quality
FOLEY, BARON, METZGER & JUIP, PLLC
