Health Care Professionals Protection Act of 2011

Health Care Professionals Protection Act of 2011 - Amends the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 to prohibit a health care entity from submitting a report to the National Practitioner Data Bank on a professional review action that would adversely affect a physician's clinical privileges while the physician is under investigation before adequate notice of and hearing procedures for such action and investigation or such other procedures as are fair are afforded to the physician. Applies such prohibition to permissive reporting to the Board of Medical Examiners for a licensed health care practitioner who is not a physician.

Requires a health care entity to provide a physician with copies of all evidence expected to be offered against the physician in any hearing on a professional review action.

[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2472 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2472

 To amend the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 to prohibit 
health care entities from reporting certain professional review actions 
 against health care professionals before adequate notice and hearing 
 procedures are afforded to such professionals, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 8, 2011

  Mr. Heck (for himself, Mr. Burgess, Mr. Gosar, Mr. DesJarlais, Mr. 
  Benishek, Mr. Harris, Mr. Fleming, Mr. Price of Georgia, Mr. Roe of 
 Tennessee, Mr. Boustany, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Bucshon, and Mrs. Ellmers) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 to prohibit 
health care entities from reporting certain professional review actions 
 against health care professionals before adequate notice and hearing 
 procedures are afforded to such professionals, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Health Care Professionals Protection 
Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. ADEQUATE NOTICE AND HEARING REQUIRED BEFORE REPORTING OF 
              CERTAIN PROFESSIONAL REVIEW ACTIONS TAKEN BY HEALTH CARE 
              ENTITIES.

    (a) In General.--Section 423(a) of the Health Care Quality 
Improvement Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11133(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the following 
        new sentence: ``In no case may a health care entity submit a 
        report under this paragraph, with respect to a professional 
        review action described in subparagraph (A) that adversely 
        affects the clinical privileges of a physician or with respect 
        to the surrender of clinical privileges of a physician 
        described in subparagraph (B) while the physician is under an 
        investigation, before adequate notice of and hearing procedures 
        for such action and investigation are afforded to the physician 
        in accordance with subsections (a)(3) and (b) of section 412, 
        or such other procedures as are fair to the physician (as 
        described in such subsection (a)(3)). The second sentence of 
        section 412(a) shall apply with respect to the adequate notice 
        and procedures required for purposes of the previous sentence 
        of this paragraph (including as applied under paragraph (2)) in 
        the same manner that such second sentence applies to the 
        standards described in such section 412(a) necessary for the 
        protection set out in section 411(a).''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting before the period the 
        following: ``and, in the case of a report pursuant to paragraph 
        (1)(A), if the entity would not be in violation of the second 
        sentence of paragraph (1) if the practitioner were a 
        physician''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to professional review actions commenced and clinical privileges 
surrendered on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. REQUIRING TIMELY PROVISION OF COPIES OF EVIDENCE AS STANDARD 
              FOR PROFESSIONAL REVIEW ACTIONS TO WHICH LIMITED 
              LIABILITY APPLIES.

    (a) In General.--Section 412(b)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
11112(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
sentence:
        ``Notice provided to a physician pursuant to this paragraph 
        shall include copies of all evidence expected to be offered 
        against the physician at the hearing.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to professional review actions proposed on or after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
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