The Medical Board or Department may also exercise the power under Section 38 of this Act to subpoena copies of hospital or medical records in mandatory report cases alleging death or permanent bodily injury. Appropriate rules shall be adopted by the Department with the approval of the Medical Board.
When the Department has received written reports concerning incidents required to be reported in items (34), (35), and (36) of subsection (A) of Section 22, the licensee's failure to report the incident to the Department under those items shall not be the sole grounds for disciplinary action.
Nothing contained in this Section shall act to, in any way, waive or modify the confidentiality of medical reports and committee reports to the extent provided by law. Any information reported or disclosed shall be kept for the confidential use of the Medical Board, the Medical Coordinators, the Medical Board's attorneys, the medical investigative staff, and authorized clerical staff, as provided in this Act, and shall be afforded the same status as is provided information concerning medical studies in Part 21 of Article VIII of the Code of Civil Procedure, except that the Department may disclose information and documents to a federal, State, or local law enforcement agency pursuant to a subpoena in an ongoing criminal investigation or to a health care licensing body or medical licensing authority of this State or another state or jurisdiction pursuant to an official request made by that licensing body or medical licensing authority. Furthermore, information and documents disclosed to a federal, State, or local law enforcement agency may be used by that agency only for the investigation and prosecution of a criminal offense, or, in the case of disclosure to a health care licensing body or medical licensing authority, only for investigations and disciplinary action proceedings with regard to a license. Information and documents disclosed to the Department of Public Health may be used by that Department only for investigation and disciplinary action regarding the license of a health care institution licensed by the Department of Public Health.
Should the Attorney General decline representation, the member shall have the right to employ counsel of his or her choice, whose fees shall be provided by the State, after approval by the Attorney General, unless there is a determination by a court that the member's actions were not in good faith or were wilful and wanton.
The member must notify the Attorney General within 7 days of receipt of notice of the initiation of any action involving services of the Medical Board. Failure to so notify the Attorney General shall constitute an absolute waiver of the right to a defense and indemnification.
The Attorney General shall determine within 7 days after receiving such notice, whether he or she will undertake to represent the member.
The notification shall include a written notice setting forth the person's right to examine the report. Included in such notification shall be the address at which the file is maintained, the name of the custodian of the reports, and the telephone number at which the custodian may be reached. The person who is the subject of the report shall submit a written statement responding, clarifying, adding to, or proposing the amending of the report previously filed. The person who is the subject of the report shall also submit with the written statement any medical records related to the report. The statement and accompanying medical records shall become a permanent part of the file and must be received by the Medical Board no more than 30 days after the date on which the person was notified by the Medical Board of the existence of the original report.
The Medical Board shall review all reports received by it, together with any supporting information and responding statements submitted by persons who are the subject of reports. The review by the Medical Board shall be in a timely manner but in no event, shall the Medical Board's initial review of the material contained in each disciplinary file be less than 61 days nor more than 180 days after the receipt of the initial report by the Medical Board.
When the Medical Board makes its initial review of the materials contained within its disciplinary files, the Medical Board shall, in writing, make a determination as to whether there are sufficient facts to warrant further investigation or action. Failure to make such determination within the time provided shall be deemed to be a determination that there are not sufficient facts to warrant further investigation or action.
Should the Medical Board find that there are not sufficient facts to warrant further investigation, or action, the report shall be accepted for filing and the matter shall be deemed closed and so reported to the Secretary. The Secretary shall then have 30 days to accept the Medical Board's decision or request further investigation. The Secretary shall inform the Medical Board of the decision to request further investigation, including the specific reasons for the decision. The individual or entity filing the original report or complaint and the person who is the subject of the report or complaint shall be notified in writing by the Secretary of any final action on their report or complaint. The Department shall disclose to the individual or entity who filed the original report or complaint, on request, the status of the Medical Board's review of a specific report or complaint. Such request may be made at any time, including prior to the Medical Board's determination as to whether there are sufficient facts to warrant further investigation or action.
225 ILCS 60/23