(a)(1) A health professional shall submit a report notifying the board, commission, or authority responsible for licensing, registering, or certifying the health professional within 10 business days after:
(A) The health professional obtains knowledge that a health care licensing authority of another state has taken disciplinary action against him or her; or
(B) The health professional:
(i) Has been named in a malpractice suit and received notice of a judgment against him or her in that suit;
(ii) Has been convicted of a crime; or
(iii)(I) Is party to a confidential settlement stemming from a malpractice claim to be paid by the health professional, an insurer, or other entity on behalf of the health professional.
(II) For a report arising from a confidential settlement pursuant to sub-sub-subparagraph (I) of this sub-subparagraph, the health professional shall not include in a report any details required by the settlement to be kept confidential.
(2) Consistent with paragraph (1) of this subsection, nothing in a confidential settlement agreement between a health professional, the insurer of the health professional, or other entities acting on behalf of the health professional and another person shall operate to prevent the parties to that agreement from filing a complaint with the board, commission, or authority responsible for licensing, registering or certifying the health professional, or from testifying in any investigation conducted by the board, commission, or authority responsible for licensing, registering, or certifying the health professional.
(a-1) A health professional's employer shall submit a report notifying the board, commission, or authority responsible for licensing, registering, or certifying a health professional within 10 business days after:
(1) The health professional's employer has:
(A) Reduced, suspended, revoked, or not renewed the health professional's clinical privileges;
(B) Involuntarily terminated or restricted the health professional's employment or staff membership; or
(C) Asked the health professional to resign because the health professional's conduct has been determined, pursuant to § 3-1205.14(c), to have committed a violation listed in § 3-1205.14(a); or
(2) The health professional has voluntarily resigned, or has been asked by the health professional employer to resign, while being investigated by the health professional employer for conduct in violation listed in § 3-1205.14(a).
(b) The reporting requirement in subsection (a-1) of this section shall not apply to a temporary suspension or relinquishment of privileges or responsibilities if a health professional enters and successfully completes a prescribed program of education or rehabilitation. As soon as there exists no reasonable expectation that he or she will enter and successfully complete such a prescribed program, the health professional's employer shall submit a report forthwith pursuant to subsection (a-1) of this section.
(c) The reports required by subsections (a) and (a-1) of this section shall be sent by registered or certified mail, with return receipt requested, or sent by a courier service, commercial carrier, or personal service, or to a secure email address created by the Department.
(d) In computing the 10 business-day reporting period in subsections (a) and (a-1) of this section, the day of the action or event that gave rise to the requirement to send the report shall not be counted. The last day of the 10-day period shall be counted unless it is a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or day on which the Department of Health is officially closed, in which event the 10-day period shall continue until the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or day on which the Department of Health is officially closed.
(e) The reporting required by subsections (a) and (a-1) of this section shall not act as a waiver of confidentiality of medical records and committee reports. Records reported and obtained under this section shall remain confidential and shall not be disclosed, except as otherwise authorized or required by law. The records shall be used by the board, commission, or authority responsible for licensing, registering or certifying the health professional in the exercise of their functions and shall be made available to the public only as required by subchapter II of Chapter 5 of Title 2.
(f) Any health professional employer, or employee of such employer, participating in good faith in the making of a report pursuant to this subchapter shall have immunity from liability, administrative, civil, and criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed with respect to the making of the report. The same immunity shall extend to participation in any judicial proceeding involving the report. In all administrative, civil, or criminal proceedings concerning the employee resulting from the report, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the maker of the report acted in good faith.
(Feb. 24, 1984, D.C. Law 5-48, § 9, 30 DCR 5778; June 24, 2020, D.C. Law 23-116, § 2(b), 67 DCR 5081.)
1981 Ed., § 32-1308.