40-3421. Reports by insurers of claims and actions, confidentiality; failure to report, civil penalty; liability of insurers in civil actions.
40-3421
40-3421. Reports by insurers of claims and actions,confidentiality; failure to report, civil penalty; liability of insurers incivil actions.(a) Any insurer providing professional liability insurance coverage to a healthcare provider, as defined by K.S.A. 40-3401, and amendments thereto, whoislicensed in Kansas shall report to the appropriate state health care providerregulatory agency and the board ofgovernors on forms prescribed bythe board of governors any written or oralclaim or action for damagesfor medical malpractice. The report shall be filed no later than 30 daysfollowing the insurer's receipt of notice of the claim or action and shallcontain:
(1) The name, address, area of practice or specialty, policy coverageand policy number of the insured; and
(2) the date of the occurrence giving rise to the claim, the date theoccurrence was reported to the insurer, and the date legal action, if any, wasinitiated.
(b) Upon request of an agency to which a report is made undersubsection (a), the insurer making the report shall provide to the agencyno later than 30 days following receipt of the request or receipt of theinformation, whichever is later:
(1) The names of all defendants involved in the claim; and
(2) a summary of the occurrence, including the name of the institutionat which the incident occurred, the final diagnosis for which treatment wassought or rendered, the patient's actual condition, the incident, treatmentor diagnosis giving rise to the claim and a description of the principalinjury giving rise to the claim.
(c) Reports required to be filed pursuant to this section shall beconfidential and shall not be admissible in any civil or criminal action orin any administrative proceeding other than a disciplinary proceeding of ahealth care provider involved in the reported occurrence.
(d) Any insurer which fails to report any information as required bythis section shall be subject, after proper notice and an opportunity to beheard, to:
(1) A civil fine assessed by the board ofgovernors in an amount not exceeding $1,000 for each day after the thirty-dayperiod forreporting that the information is not reported; and
(2) suspension, revocation, denial of renewal or cancellation of theinsurer's certificate of authority to do business in this state or certificateof self-insurance.
The board of governors shall remit any moneys collected from fines assessedpursuantto this subsectionto the state treasurer in accordance with the provisions of K.S.A. 75-4215,and amendments thereto.Upon receiptof each such remittance, the state treasurer shalldeposit the entire amount in the statetreasury to the credit of the state general fund.
(e) Any insurer which, in good faith, reports or provides anyinformation pursuant to this act shall not be liable in a civil action fordamages or other relief arising from the reporting or providing of suchinformation.
(f) As used in this section, "insurer" means insurer or self-insurer, asdefined by K.S.A. 40-3401, and amendments thereto, or joint underwritingassociation operating pursuant to K.S.A. 40-3413, and amendmentsthereto.
(g) The requirements of this section shall not be applicable with respectto any occurrence on or after July 1, 1991, giving rise to any claim or actionagainst any optometrist or pharmacist.
(h) The requirements of this section shall not be applicable with respectto any occurrence on or after July 1, 1995, giving rise to any claim or actionagainst any physical therapist.
History: L. 1986, ch. 229, § 19; L. 1991, ch. 139, § 6;L. 1995, ch. 145, § 8;L. 2001, ch. 5, § 125; July 1.