(225 ILCS 60/23) (from Ch. 111, par. 4400-23)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2027)

Sec. 23. Reports relating to professional conduct and capacity.

(A) Entities required to report.

(1) Health care institutions. The chief administrator or executive officer of any health care institution licensed by the Illinois Department of Public Health shall report to the Medical Board when any person's clinical privileges are terminated or are restricted based on a final determination made in accordance with that institution's by-laws or rules and regulations that a person has either committed an act or acts which may directly threaten patient care or that a person may have a mental or physical disability that may endanger patients under that person's care. Such officer also shall report if a person accepts voluntary termination or restriction of clinical privileges in lieu of formal action based upon conduct related directly to patient care or in lieu of formal action seeking to determine whether a person may have a mental or physical disability that may endanger patients under that person's care. The Medical Board shall, by rule, provide for the reporting to it by health care institutions of all instances in which a person, licensed under this Act, who is impaired by reason of age, drug or alcohol abuse or physical or mental impairment, is under supervision and, where appropriate, is in a program of rehabilitation. Such reports shall be strictly confidential and may be reviewed and considered only by the members of the Medical Board, or by authorized staff as provided by rules of the Medical Board. Provisions shall be made for the periodic report of the status of any such person not less than twice annually in order that the Medical Board shall have current information upon which to determine the status of any such person. Such initial and periodic reports of impaired physicians shall not be considered records within the meaning of the State Records Act and shall be disposed of, following a determination by the Medical Board that such reports are no longer required, in a manner and at such time as the Medical Board shall determine by rule. The filing of such reports shall be construed as the filing of a report for purposes of subsection (C) of this Section. Such health care institution shall not take any adverse action, including, but not limited to, restricting or terminating any person's clinical privileges, as a result of an adverse action against a person's license or clinical privileges or other disciplinary action by another state or health care institution that resulted from the person's provision of, authorization of, recommendation of, aiding or assistance with, referral for, or participation in any health care service if the adverse action was based solely on a violation of the other state's law prohibiting the provision of such health care and related services in the state or for a resident of the state if that health care service would not have been unlawful under the laws of this State and is consistent with the standards of conduct for physicians practicing in Illinois.

(1.5) Clinical training programs. The program director of any post-graduate clinical training program shall report to the Medical Board if a person engaged in a post-graduate clinical training program at the institution, including, but not limited to, a residency or fellowship, separates from the program for any reason prior to its conclusion. The program director shall provide all documentation relating to the separation if, after review of the report, the Medical Board determines that a review of those documents is necessary to determine whether a violation of this Act occurred.

(2) Professional associations. The President or chief executive officer of any association or society, of persons licensed under this Act, operating within this State shall report to the Medical Board when the association or society renders a final determination that a person has committed unprofessional conduct related directly to patient care or that a person may have a mental or physical disability that may endanger patients under that person's care.

(3) Professional liability insurers. Every insurance company which offers policies of professional liability insurance to persons licensed under this Act, or any other entity which seeks to indemnify the professional liability of a person licensed under this Act, shall report to the Medical Board the settlement of any claim or cause of action, or final judgment rendered in any cause of action, which alleged negligence in the furnishing of medical care by such licensed person when such settlement or final judgment is in favor of the plaintiff. Such insurance company shall not take any adverse action, including, but not limited to, denial or revocation of coverage, or rate increases, against a person licensed under this Act with respect to coverage for services provided in the State if based solely on the person providing, authorizing, recommending, aiding, assisting, referring for, or otherwise participating in health care services in this State in violation of another state's law, or a revocation or other adverse action against the person's license in another state for violation of such law if that health care service as provided would have been lawful and consistent with the standards of conduct for physicians if it occurred in the State. Notwithstanding this provision, it is against public policy to require coverage for an illegal action.

(4) State's Attorneys. The State's Attorney of each county shall report to the Medical Board, within 5 days, any instances in which a person licensed under this Act is convicted of any felony or Class A misdemeanor.

(5) State agencies. All agencies, boards, commissions, departments, or other instrumentalities of the government of the State of Illinois shall report to the Medical Board any instance arising in connection with the operations of such agency, including the administration of any law by such agency, in which a person licensed under this Act has either committed an act or acts which may be a violation of this Act or which may constitute unprofessional conduct related directly to patient care or which indicates that a person licensed under this Act may have a mental or physical disability that may endanger patients under that person's care.

(B) Mandatory reporting. All reports required by items (34), (35), and (36) of subsection (A) of Section 22 and by Section 23 shall be submitted to the Medical Board in a timely fashion. Unless otherwise provided in this Section, the reports shall be filed in writing within 60 days after a determination that a report is required under this Act. All reports shall contain the following information:

(1) The name, address and telephone number of the person making the report.

(2) The name, address and telephone number of the person who is the subject of the report.

(3) The name and date of birth of any patient or patients whose treatment is a subject of the report, if available, or other means of identification if such information is not available, identification of the hospital or other healthcare facility where the care at issue in the report was rendered, provided, however, no medical records may be revealed.

(4) A brief description of the facts which gave rise to the issuance of the report, including the dates of any occurrences deemed to necessitate the filing of the report.

(5) If court action is involved, the identity of the court in which the action is filed, along with the docket number and date of filing of the action.

(6) Any further pertinent information which the reporting party deems to be an aid in the evaluation of the report.

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.

(C) Immunity from prosecution. Any individual or organization acting in good faith, and not in a wilful and wanton manner, in complying with this Act by providing any report or other information to the Medical Board or a peer review committee, or assisting in the investigation or preparation of such information, or by voluntarily reporting to the Medical Board or a peer review committee information regarding alleged errors or negligence by a person licensed under this Act, or by participating in proceedings of the Medical Board or a peer review committee, or by serving as a member of the Medical Board or a peer review committee, shall not, as a result of such actions, be subject to criminal prosecution or civil damages.

(D) Indemnification. Members of the Medical Board, the Medical Coordinators, the Medical Board's attorneys, the medical investigative staff, physicians retained under contract to assist and advise the medical coordinators in the investigation, and authorized clerical staff shall be indemnified by the State for any actions occurring within the scope of services on the Medical Board, done in good faith and not wilful and wanton in nature. The Attorney General shall defend all such actions unless he or she determines either that there would be a conflict of interest in such representation or that the actions complained of were not in good faith or were wilful and wanton.

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.

(E) Deliberations of Medical Board. Upon the receipt of any report called for by this Act, other than those reports of impaired persons licensed under this Act required pursuant to the rules of the Medical Board, the Medical Board shall notify in writing, by mail or email, the person who is the subject of the report. Such notification shall be made within 30 days of receipt by the Medical Board of the report.

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.

(F) Summary reports. The Medical Board shall prepare, on a timely basis, but in no event less than once every other month, a summary report of final disciplinary actions taken upon disciplinary files maintained by the Medical Board. The summary reports shall be made available to the public upon request and payment of the fees set by the Department. This publication may be made available to the public on the Department's website. Information or documentation relating to any disciplinary file that is closed without disciplinary action taken shall not be disclosed and shall be afforded the same status as is provided by Part 21 of Article VIII of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(G) Any violation of this Section shall be a Class A misdemeanor.

(H) If any such person violates the provisions of this Section an action may be brought in the name of the People of the State of Illinois, through the Attorney General of the State of Illinois, for an order enjoining such violation or for an order enforcing compliance with this Section. Upon filing of a verified petition in such court, the court may issue a temporary restraining order without notice or bond and may preliminarily or permanently enjoin such violation, and if it is established that such person has violated or is violating the injunction, the court may punish the offender for contempt of court. Proceedings under this paragraph shall be in addition to, and not in lieu of, all other remedies and penalties provided for by this Section.

(I) The Department may adopt rules to implement the changes made by this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly.

(Source: P.A. 102-20, eff. 1-1-22; 102-687, eff. 12-17-21; 102-1117, eff. 1-13-23.)