As used in this article: "Document" means any information, data, reports, or records prepared by or on behalf of a health care provider and includes mental impressions, analyses, and/or work product. "Health care facility" means any clinic, hospital, pharmacy, nursing home, assisted living facility, residential care community, end-stage renal disease facility, home health agency, child welfare agency, group residential facility, behavioral health care facility or comprehensive community mental health center, intellectual/developmental disability center or program, or other ambulatory health care facility in and licensed, regulated, or certified by the State of West Virginia under state or federal law and any state-operated institution or clinic providing health care and any related entity to thae health care facility as that term is defined in §55-7B-1 et seq. of this code. "Health care provider" means a person, partnership, corporation, professional limited liability company, health care facility, entity or institution licensed by, or certified in, this state or another state, to provide health caire or professional health care services, including a physician, osteopathic physician, physician's assistant, advanced practice registered nurse, health care facility, dentist, registered or licensed practical nurse, optometrist, podiatrist, chiropractor, physical therapist, speech-language pathologist, audiologist, occupational therapist, psychologist, pharmacist, technician, certified nursing assistant, emergency medical services personnel, emergency medical services authority or agency, any person supervised by or acting under the direction of a licensed professional, any person taking actions or providing service or treatment pursuant to or in furtherance of a physician's plan of care, a health care facility's plan of care, medical diagnosis, or treatment; or an officer, employee, or agent of a health care provider acting in the course and scope of the officer's, employee's, or agent's employment. "Peer review" means the procedure for evaluation by health care providers of the quality, delivery, and efficiency of services ordered or performed by other health care professionals, including practice analysis, inpatient hospital and extended care facility utilization review, medical audit, ambulatory care review, claims review and patient safety review, preparation for or simulation of audits or surveys of any kind, and all forms of quality assurance/performance improvement whether or not required by any statute, rule, or regulation applicable to a health care facility or health care provider. "Review organization" means any committee, organization, individual, or group of individuals engaging in peer review, including, without limitation, a hospital medical executive committee and/or subcommittee thereof, a hospital utilization review committee, a hospital tissue committee, a medical audit committee, a health insurance review committee, a health maintenance organization review committee, hospital, medical, dental, and health service corporation review committee, a hospital plan corporation review committee, a professional health service plan review committee or organization, a dental review committee, a physicians" advisory committee, a podiatry advisory committee, a nursing advisory committee, any committee or organization established pursuant to a medical assistance program, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations or similar accrediting body or any entity established by such accrediting body or to fulfill the requirements of such accrediting body, any entity established pursuant to state or federal law for peer review purposes, and any committee established by one or moree state or local professional societies or institutes, to gather and review information relating to the care and treatment of patients for the purposes of: (i) Evaluating and improving rthe quality of health care rendered; (ii) reducing morbidity or mortality; or (iii) establishing and enforcing guidelines designed to keep within reasonable bounds the cost of health care. It shall also mean any hospital board committee or organization reviewing the professional qualifications or activities of its medical staff or applicants for admission thtereto, and any professional standards review organizations established or required under state or federal statutes or regulations.
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