Clinical peer review

Clinical Peer Review is the process by which health care professionals evaluate each other’s clinical performance. Clinical peer review is segmented by discipline. No inter-disciplinary models for clinical peer review have been described. Physician Peer Review is most common and is found in virtually all hospitals. Peer review is also done in some settings by other clinical disciplines including nursing and pharmacy. Initially used by Dans,Clinical Peer Review is the best term to collectively refer to all such activity.

Medical peer review is the process by which a committee of physicians examines the work of a peer and determines whether the physician under review has met accepted standards of care in rendering medical services. Depending on the specific institution, a medical peer review may be initiated at the request of a patient, a physician, or an insurance carrier. The term "peer review" is sometimes used synonymously with performance appraisal.

The definition of a peer review body can be broad, including not only individuals but also (for example, in Oregon), "tissue committees, governing bodies or committees including medical staff committees of a [licensed] health care facility...or any other medical group in connection with bona fide medical research, quality assurance, utilization review, credentialing, education, training, supervision or discipline of physicians or other health care providers." Definition of Peer Review

The first definition of nursing peer review was published in 1988 by the American Nurses Association and is still applicable today. This definition includes the following statements: "The American Nurses Association believes nurses bare primary responsibility and accountability for the quality of nursing care their clients receive. Standards of nursing practice provide a means for measuring the quality of nursing care a client receives. Each nurse is responsible for interpreting and implementing the standards of nursing practice. Likewise, each nurse must participate with other nurses in the decision-making process for evaluating nursing care…Peer review implies that the nursing care delivered by a group of nurses or an individual nurse is evaluated by individuals of the same rank or standing according to established standards of practice…. Peer review is an organized effort whereby practicing professionals review the quality and appropriateness of services ordered or performed by their professional peers. Peer review in nursing is the process by which practicing registered nurses systematically access, monitor, and make judgments about the quality of nursing care provided by peers as measured against professional standards of practice" (ANA 1988 p. 3).

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