Peer review; records; immunity; confidentiality.

(1) The Legislature finds that effective peer review of consumer complaints by professional associations of dentists is a valuable service to the public. In performing such service, any member of a peer review organization or committee shall, pursuant to s. 466.028(1)(f), report to the department the name of any licensee who he or she believes has violated this chapter. Any such peer review committee member shall be afforded the privileges and immunities of any other complainant or witness which are provided by s. 456.073(11). Furthermore, a professional organization or association of dentists 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 a duly constituted medical review committee by s. 766.101(3).

(2) Information obtained from the official records of peer review organizations or committees shall not be subject to discovery or introduction into evidence in any disciplinary proceeding against a licensee. Further, no person who voluntarily serves on a peer review committee or who investigates a complaint for the committee shall be permitted or required to testify in any such disciplinary proceeding as to any evidence or other matters produced or presented during the proceedings of such organization or committee or as to any findings, recommendations, evaluations, opinions, or other actions of such organization or committee or any members thereof. However, nothing in this section shall be construed to mean that information, documents, or records otherwise available and obtained from original sources are immune from discovery or use in any such disciplinary proceeding merely because they were presented during proceedings of a peer review organization or committee. Members of peer review organizations shall assist the department in identification of such original sources when possible.

(3) Peer review information obtained by the department as background information shall remain confidential and exempt from ss. 119.07(1) and 286.011 regardless of whether probable cause is found. The provisions of s. 766.101 continue to apply in full notwithstanding the fact that peer review information becomes available to the department pursuant to this chapter. For the purpose of this section, official records of peer review organizations or committees include correspondence between the dentist who is the subject of the complaint and the organization; correspondence between the complainant and the organization; diagnostic data, treatment plans, and radiographs used by investigators or otherwise relied upon by the organization or committee; results of patient examinations; interviews; evaluation worksheets; recommendation worksheets; and peer review report forms.

(4) The provisions of this section shall apply to ethics review committees of a professional association of dentists.