(a) (1) The administrative director shall contract with one or more independent medical review organizations and one or more independent bill review organizations to conduct reviews pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 4600) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 4. The independent review organizations shall be independent of any workersâ compensation insurer or workersâ compensation claims administrator doing business in this state. The administrative director may establish additional requirements, including conflict-of-interest standards, consistent with the purposes of Article 2 (commencing with Section 4600) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 4, that an organization shall be required to meet in order to qualify as an independent review organization and to assist the division in carrying out its responsibilities. (2) To enable the independent review program to go into effect for injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2013, and until the administrative director establishes contracts as otherwise specified by this section, independent review organizations under contract with the Department of Managed Health Care pursuant to Section 1374.32 of the Health and Safety Code may be designated by the administrative director to conduct reviews pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 4600) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 4. The administrative director may use an interagency agreement to implement the independent review process beginning January 1, 2013. The administrative director may initially contract directly with the same organizations that are under contract with the Department of Managed Health Care on substantially the same terms without competitive bidding until January 1, 2015. (b) (1) The independent medical review organizations and the medical professionals retained to conduct reviews shall be deemed to be consultants for purposes of this section. (2) There shall be no monetary liability on the part of, and no cause of action shall arise against, any consultant on account of any communication by that consultant to the administrative director or any other officer, employee, agent, contractor, or consultant of the Division of Workersâ Compensation, or on account of any communication by that consultant to any person when that communication is required by the terms of a contract with the administrative director pursuant to this section and the consultant does all of the following: (A) Acts without malice. (B) Makes a reasonable effort to determine the facts of the matter communicated. (C) Acts with a reasonable belief that the communication is warranted by the facts actually known to the consultant after a reasonable effort to determine the facts. (3) The immunities afforded by this section shall not affect the availability of any other privilege or immunity which may be afforded by law. This section shall not be construed to alter the laws regarding the confidentiality of medical records. (c) (1) An organization contracted to perform independent medical review or independent bill review shall be required to employ a medical director who shall be responsible for advising the contractor on clinical issues. The medical director shall be a physician and surgeon licensed by the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California. (2) The independent review organization, any experts it designates to conduct a review, or any officer, director, or employee of the independent review organization shall not have any material professional, familial, or financial affiliation, as determined by the administrative director, with any of the following: (A) The employer, insurer or claims administrator, or utilization review organization. (B) Any officer, director, employee of the employer, or insurer or claims administrator. (C) A physician, the physicianâs medical group, the physicianâs independent practice association, or other provider involved in the medical treatment in dispute. (D) The f
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