A medical review panel is not the same as a hospital peer review process. A peer review is an internal check by a hospital or medical group that looks at a provider's performance for quality control, discipline, or credentialing. A medical review panel, by contrast, is a formal legal step used in some states to evaluate a medical malpractice claim before the case fully moves forward in court.

The panel usually includes healthcare professionals and a lawyer serving as chair. Its job is not to decide damages or hold a trial. Instead, it reviews the evidence and gives an expert opinion on whether the provider likely met the standard of care and whether any failure probably caused the patient's injury. That opinion is not always final, but it can strongly shape settlement talks and later court proceedings.

In Indiana, the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act requires most proposed malpractice complaints against qualified providers to be presented to a medical review panel before the claim can proceed in court. The panel's written opinion can support or weaken a case, much like an early read on whether the facts hold up under pressure. For an injured patient, that affects timing, strategy, and leverage. A strong panel opinion may push a case toward settlement; a bad one can make proving causation and negligence much harder.