HCQIA peer review protection applies to which professionals?

• A. MDs, DOs and Dentists only
• B. Nurses and allied health professionals
• C. All licensed healthcare professionals
• D. Hospital administrators

Answer: (A)

HCQIA peer review protection shields those who participate in hospital professional review actions from liability when they act in good faith to evaluate a professional’s competence or conduct. In practice, these protections are tied to the kinds of professionals who most often carry out the peer review process within the medical staff, primarily physicians (MDs and DOs) and, in some settings, dentists, since they are the ones routinely assessing clinical performance and making credentialing or corrective decisions. Nurses, allied health professionals, and hospital administrators do not routinely fall under this immunity in the same way, as their roles are not the core peer review actions HCQIA is designed to protect. So, the option naming physicians and dentists reflects the group most consistently associated with the hospital-based peer review process and protected when acting in good faith within that process.