McCall v. Henry Medical Center

In McCall v. Henry Medical Center, 250 Ga. App. 679, 682 (551 SE2d 739) (2001), the Court held that the definition of "peer review" contained in OCGA 31-7-131(1) addresses the evaluation of the quality and efficiency of actual medical care services and does not encompass the credentialing process to the extent that every decision to extend or maintain staff privileges is a peer review function. OCGA 31-7-15 requires that a hospital establish professional practice review; it does not expand the civil immunity otherwise afforded to peer review groups who may perform the review. . . . Civil immunity will not extend to a peer review committee which is not performing a peer review function. Id. McCall goes on to state, however, that it "does not hold that no aspect of the credentialing process is a peer review function, especially if the process involves the evaluation of a physician's performance of an actual medical procedure. . . ." Id.