606 JOURNAL OF LAW AND POLICY
One of the documents... bears a heading of
“Occurrence Report,” with no further explanatory label
or statutory cross-reference. Another one... contains a
boxed legend on its first page citing the PSA, stating that
“This Quality Assurance Document was created and is
protected in accordance with N.J.S.A. 26:2H-12.23 et
seq.” Two of the documents... bear a different heading
with no statutory citation: “CONFIDENTIAL
RISK MANAGEMENT / QUALITY ASSURANCE
DOCUMENT.” Another document... contains no label
and is on business letterhead. Lastly, the document dated
September 10, 2007 bears this heading:
“CONFIDENTIAL AND PRIVILEGED Pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 2A:84A[-]22.8,” the utilization review
statute.^152
The court exclaimed that “mere labeling of a hospital
document does not necessarily control its legal classification.”^153
The court also noted Valley’s inability to explain how self-
critical “organizational structures and processes” actually
changed in the wake of the PSA’s enactment.^154 The court
therefore remanded the case, directing Valley to explain in
greater detail “the internal processes within the hospital that
generated each document, and how those processes relate to...
other standards apart from the PSA.”^155
Finally, and most curiously, the court suggested in a footnote
that the PSA’s “restriction on evidential admissibility in the
courts” may have improperly limited the judiciary’s powers in
violation of the New Jersey Constitution and that the Legislature
“apparent[ly] fail[ed] to follow the proscribed procedures for the
adoption of evidence rules under the Evidence Act of 1960.”^156
(^152) Id. at 9. A seemingly exasperated court exclaimed, “[W]e are unsure
what to make of this hodgepodge of labels.” Id.
(^153) Id.
(^154) Id. For example, the record was silent on how the functions and
authority of Valley’s “Patient Safety Director” (created pursuant to the PSA)
corresponded to the other “related ongoing [peer-review] operations within
the hospital.” Id.
(^155) Id. at 11.
(^156) Id. at *8 n.8; see N.J. CONST. art. VI, § 11, cl. 3 (providing that