Physician/Professional Peer Review Process

The Institute for Quality Healthcare (IQH) is a non-profit organization drawing financial revenue for quality improvement services provided to healthcare organizations (HCOs).  The association with the University of Iowa is based on a prior grant.  University physicians are not utilized.

The process begins with a phone conversation with a staff member from the requesting HCO to discuss specifics of the case(s) at hand.

Based on the description of the case, IQH staff draft a letter of request for the HCO.  The letter details the concerns to be addressed, cost, and desired specialty area of the reviewer.  The letter serves as the contract between IQH and the HCO once signed.  HCO staff can make modifications to the draft if so desired.

Role of IQH

1) Arranges an appropriate independent reviewer to match the provider from the requesting hospital

2) Assigns the desired due date

3) Issues reminders to the reviewer of approaching due dates

4) Reviews the report to assure the HCO concerns have been adequately addressed

5) Submits the final report to the requesting organization

To maintain HIPPA compliance, the HCO may want to have Business Associates Agreement (BAA) signed.  We have some example templates to share.  Medical record copies are submitted to IQH for the confidential reviewer.  The identity of the reviewer is not shared.

Please see the Sample of a Peer Review Report

Please feel free to contact us for further information:

M. Jeanne Bock

319-335-8013

mary-bock@uiowa.edu