(a) Basic requirement. Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, a QIO must meet the following requirements:

(1) Consult with the peers of the practitioners who furnish the services under review if the QIO reviews care and services delivered by health care practitioners other than physicians.

(2) Assure that in determinations regarding medical necessity of services or the quality of the services they furnish, these practitioners are involved in—

(i) Developing QIO criteria and standards;

(ii) Selecting norms to be used; and

(iii) Developing review mechanisms for care furnished by their peers.

(3) Ensure that an initial denial determination or a change as a result of DRG validation of services provided by a health care practitioner other than a physician is made by a physician only after consultation with a peer of that practitioner. Initial denial determinations and changes as a result of DRG validations must be made only by a physician or dentist.

(b) Exception. The requirements of paragraph (a) of this section do not apply if—

(1) The QIO has been unable to obtain a roster of peer practitioners available to perform review; or

(2) The practitioners are precluded from performing review because they participated in the treatment of the patient, the patient is a relative, or the practitioners have a financial interest in the health care facility as described in § 466.98(d).

(c) Peer involvement in quality review studies. Practitioners must be involved in the design of quality review studies, development of criteria, and actual conduct of studies involving their peers.

(d) Consultation with practitioners other than physicians. To the extent practicable, a QIO must consult with nurses and other professional health care practitioners (other than physicians defined in 1861(r) (1) and (2) of the Act) and with representatives of institutional and noninstitutional providers and suppliers with respect to the QIO's responsibility for review.