California SB 679

Existing law establishes a peer review process for certain healing arts licensees and requires peer review bodies to review licensee conduct under specified circumstances. If a licentiate's membership, staff privileges, or employment is terminated or revoked for a medical disciplinary cause or reason, existing law requires the chief executive officer or administrator of a licensed health care facility, among others, to file an "805 report" with the relevant state licensing agency having regulatory jurisdiction over the licentiate. This bill would require a health care facility or peer review body, on or before March 1 of each year, to submit a report to the Civil Rights Department that includes, among other data, the number of physicians and surgeons and medical residents at the health care facility who were terminated, the number of physicians and surgeons who completed an application for staff privileges, were granted staff privileges, or for whom staff privileges were suspended or revoked, and the number of physicians and surgeons or medical residents in those categories, stratified by race and gender. The bill would require the Civil Rights Department, on or before September 1 of each year, to publish the information on the department's internet website, would require the information to be aggregated and deidentified, and would prohibit disclosure of the names of the health care facilities or any personally identifiable information. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.