(1) IN GENERAL.—The database shall consist of 
information about physicians voluntarily submitted 
to the database by— 
(A) State medical boards; and 
(B) patients. 
(2) 
SUBMISSIONS
BY
STATE
MEDICAL 
BOARDS.—The database shall encourage the State 
medical board of each State to submit, with respect 
to each physician licensed by the State, the fol-
lowing: 
(A) The physician’s identity. 
(B) The physician’s education and train-
ing. 
(C) The physician’s medical specialties. 
(D) A description of medical malpractice 
claims paid, hospital disciplinary actions taken, 
criminal convictions occurring, and disciplinary 
actions taken by the State medical board, with-
in the previous 10 years. 
(3) 
PATIENT
COMPLAINTS.—The 
database 
shall— 
(A) encourage the State medical board of 
each State to submit, with respect to each phy-
sician licensed by the State, a description of
pending patient complaints about the physician; 
and 
(B) allow patients to submit complaints 
about physicians directly to the database. 
(c) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The information submitted 
to the database pursuant to subsection (b)(2) shall 
be available to the public, including by means of the 
Internet and a toll-free telephone number. 
(2) PATIENT COMPLAINTS.— 
(A) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Any patient com-
plaint about a physician submitted to the data-
base shall be kept confidential and shall not be 
subject to disclosure under section 552 of title 
5, United States Code. Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), the database may disclose 
information derived from such a patient com-
plaint only if the information is not individually 
identifiable. 
(B) TRACKING
PATIENT
COMPLAINTS.— 
The database shall— 
(i) assign a tracking number to each 
patient complaint submitted to the data-
base pursuant to subsection (b)(3);
(ii) provide notice and a description of 
each patient complaint submitted pursuant 
to subsection (b)(3)(B) to the applicable 
State medical board; and 
(iii) allow the patient making any 
complaint submitted to the database pur-
suant to subsection (b)(3) to track the sta-
tus of the complaint, including by means of 
the Internet and a toll-free telephone num-
ber. 
(C) ANALYSIS.—Subject to subparagraph 
(A), the Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices shall conduct analysis of patient complaints 
submitted to the database, including complaints 
that do not result in disciplinary action, and 
use the data and conclusions derived from such 
analysis to provide timely public health safety 
information to health care consumers and prac-
titioners. 
(d) TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 
Health and Human Services shall provide technical assist-
ance to States to facilitate the exchange of information 
between State medical boards and the database. 
(e) DETERMINATION REQUIRED.—For the period be-
ginning 3 years after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Secretary shall determine whether the State med-
ical board of each State is failing to submit the informa-
tion described in subsections (b)(2) and (b)(3)(A). 
(f) DETERMINATION OF NONCOMPLIANCE.—Before 
making a determination under subsection (e) that a State 
medical board is failing to submit such information, the 
Secretary shall— 
(1) propose a determination of noncompliance; 
(2) identify the reasons for such noncompliance; 
and 
(3) give the State medical board an opportunity 
to correct such noncompliance. 
(g) REVISION OF DETERMINATIONS.—The Secretary 
shall periodically review and, as necessary, revise deter-
minations of compliance and noncompliance under sub-
section (e). 
(h) ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 3 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall— 
(1) conduct an assessment of the database, in-
cluding an assessment of the value of the database 
to patients and the effect of the database on physi-
cians; and 
(2) submit a report to the Congress on the re-
sults of the assessment, including any recommenda-
tions for improvement of the database.
SEC. 105. DEFINITIONS. 
In this title: 
(1) The term ‘‘State medical board’’ means a 
State entity responsible for licensing physicians or a 
subdivision of such an entity. 
(2) The term ‘‘health care malpractice’’ means 
the negligence or other fault of a health care pro-
vider. 
(3) The term ‘‘health care provider’’ means— 
(A) any individual who is engaged in the 
delivery of health care services in a State and 
who is required by State law or regulation to be 
licensed or certified by the State to engage in 
the delivery of such services in the State; and 
(B) any entity that is engaged in the deliv-
ery of health care services in a State and that, 
if it is required by State law or regulation to be 
licensed or certified by the State to engage in 
the delivery of such services in the State, is so 
licensed. 
(4) The term ‘‘State’’ includes the District of 
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and 
other territories and possessions of the United 
States.
TITLE II—HEALTH CARE MAL-
PRACTICE 
LIABILITY 
MEDI-
ATION PROGRAMS 
SEC. 201. GRANTS TO STATES AND HEALTH CARE ENTITIES 
FOR MEDIATION PROGRAMS. 
(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From amounts made 
available to carry out this section, the Attorney General 
shall carry out a program under which the Attorney Gen-
eral makes grants to States and health care entities to 
carry out mediation programs described in subsection (b). 
(b) MEDIATION PROGRAMS.—A mediation program 
referred to in subsection (a) is a program, based on the 
Rush model, under which an allegation that an individual 
has been injured or has died as the result of health care 
malpractice is mediated by those parties consenting to do 
so in an effort to resolve the matter without litigation. 
(c) RUSH MODEL.—For purposes of this section, a 
program is based on the Rush model if the program satis-
fies each of the following: 
(1) Participation by the parties in the medi-
ation is voluntary. 
(2) The mediator is neutral, having no interest 
in or power to determine the outcome of the pro-
ceedings.
(3) The site of the mediation conference is held 
in a neutral setting, one that the parties mutually 
agree upon. 
(4) At the commencement of a mediation, the 
parties enter into a mediation agreement that— 
(A) states that the parties— 
(i) will not request or subpoena the 
mediator to testify or produce any docu-
ments or other information in any pro-
ceeding related to the mediation; and 
(ii) will defend and indemnify the me-
diator in connection with any summons or 
subpoena arising out of the mediation pro-
ceeding; 
(B) provides for confidentiality of the me-
diation proceedings; and 
(C) states that any apology or expression 
of remorse by a health care provider or other 
entity at any time during the mediation pro-
ceedings will be kept confidential and will not 
be used in any subsequent legal proceeding. 
(5) The program is similar to the mediation 
program carried out as of January 1, 2005, at 
Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chi-
cago, Illinois.
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘health care entity’’ means an en-
tity covered by section 105(3)(B). 
(2) The term ‘‘health care malpractice’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 105. 
(3) The term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given 
such term in section 105. 
SEC. 202. TRAINING AND ASSISTANCE FOR MEDIATION 
PROGRAMS. 
From amounts made available to carry out this sec-
tion, the Attorney General shall carry out a program 
under which the Attorney General provides training and 
assistance to recipients of grant amounts under section 
201 to carry out mediation programs under that section. 
SEC. 203. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Attor-
ney General such sums as may be necessary to carry out 
sections 201 and 202.
TITLE III—VOLUNTARY REPORT-
ING OF MEDICAL SAFETY IN-
CIDENTS 
Subtitle A—Reporting by Individ-
uals Involved in the Provision 
of Health Care 
SEC. 301. AMENDMENTS TO PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title IX of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 299 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) in section 912(c), by inserting ‘‘, in accord-
ance with part C,’’ after ‘‘The Director shall’’; 
(2) by redesignating part C as part D; 
(3) by redesignating sections 921 through 928, 
as sections 931 through 938, respectively; 
(4) in section 938(1) (as so redesignated), by 
striking ‘‘921’’ and inserting ‘‘931’’; and 
(5) by inserting after part B the following: 
‘‘PART C—PATIENT SAFETY IMPROVEMENT 
‘‘SEC. 921. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this part: 
‘‘(1) IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION.—The term 
‘identifiable information’ means information that is 
presented in a form and manner that allows the 
identification of any provider, patient, or reporter of 
patient safety work product. With respect to pa-
tients, such information includes any individually 
identifiable health information as that term is de-
fined in the regulations promulgated pursuant to 
section 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability 
and Accountability Act of 1996 (Public Law 104– 
191; 110 Stat. 2033). 
‘‘(2) NONIDENTIFIABLE
INFORMATION.—The 
term ‘nonidentifiable information’ means informa-
tion that is presented in a form and manner that 
prevents the identification of any provider, patient, 
or reporter of patient safety work product. With re-
spect to patients, such information must be de-iden-
tified consistent with the regulations promulgated 
pursuant to section 264(c) of the Health Insurance 
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (Public 
Law 104–191; 110 Stat. 2033). 
‘‘(3) PATIENT SAFETY EVALUATION SYSTEM.— 
The term ‘patient safety evaluation system’ means a 
process that involves the collection, management, or 
analysis of information for submission to or by a pa-
tient safety organization. 
‘‘(4) PATIENT
SAFETY
ORGANIZATION.—The 
term ‘patient safety organization’ means a private or 
public organization or component thereof that is cer-
tified, through a process to be determined by the
Secretary under section 925, to perform each of the 
following activities: 
‘‘(A) The conduct, as the organization or 
component’s primary activity, of efforts to im-
prove patient safety and the quality of health 
care delivery. 
‘‘(B) The collection and analysis of patient 
safety work product that is submitted by pro-
viders. 
‘‘(C) The development and dissemination 
of evidence-based information to providers with 
respect to improving patient safety, such as rec-
ommendations, protocols, or information re-
garding best practices. 
‘‘(D) The utilization of patient safety work 
product to carry out activities limited to those 
described under this paragraph and for the pur-
poses of encouraging a culture of safety and of 
providing direct feedback and assistance to pro-
viders to effectively minimize patient risk. 
‘‘(E) The maintenance of confidentiality 
with respect to identifiable information. 
‘‘(F) The provision of appropriate security 
measures with respect to patient safety work 
product.