People often confuse a screening panel with a medical review panel, but they are not always the same thing. A screening panel is generally a group of neutral reviewers brought in early to look at a claim and decide whether it appears to have enough merit to move forward. A medical review panel is a more specific creature created by statute in some states for medical malpractice cases, usually with set rules about who serves, what records are reviewed, and what opinion the panel gives.

In practice, a screening panel acts as a gatekeeping step. It does not usually decide who wins the case, and it is not the same as a judge or jury. Instead, it gives an early assessment of whether the facts suggest a breach of the standard of care, causation, or compensable harm. That matters because weak claims may be dropped, and stronger claims may gain leverage in settlement talks.

In Indiana, people usually mean the state's medical review panel when they say screening panel in a malpractice case. Under the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act, before most malpractice lawsuits against a qualified provider can proceed in court, the proposed complaint must first go through a medical review panel. The panel's opinion is not final, but it can strongly affect strategy, timing, and credibility. If the panel finds no malpractice, an injured patient may still sue, but the claim often becomes harder and more expensive to prove.