SELECTION OF ARBITRATION PANEL
§ 171.71. Certificate of readiness.
(a) A party who believes that a claim is ready for an arbitration hearing may submit to the Administrator a certificate of readiness. The certificate of readiness may be submitted by any party after the expiration of 60 days from the filing of the initial complaint.
(b) The certificate of readiness shall be properly captioned and contain a certification stating:
(1) That the claim is ready for assignment to an arbitration panel.
(2) That the filing party’s discovery in the case will be completed within 30 days after the date the Administrator confirms that the claim is ready for arbitration pursuant to subsection (d).
(3) That the filing party has received the opinion of an expert supporting his position or specific reasons why he will not need expert testimony to prevail at the arbitration hearing.
(4) That a conciliation conference has been held or waived by the Administrator.
(5) That serious settlement negotiations have been conducted among the parties, but it does not appear further negotiations will be productive.
(6) Whether the claim involves a hospital administrator, podiatrist or osteopathic physician or surgeon.
(7) That on or before the day of filing, a copy of the certificate of readiness was mailed to or served personally upon all other parties.
(c) Any objection to a certificate of readiness must be properly captioned as such and filed within 14 days after the objecting party has received the certificate of readiness. The objection to a certificate of readiness shall set forth a detailed and specific explanation of why the claim is not ready for assignment to an arbitration panel.
(d) If, upon review of the record, the Administrator confirms that the claim is ready for arbitration, he will begin the selection of an arbitration panel and will notify the parties in writing of his decision.
(e) Solely for purposes of section 403 of the act (40 P. S. § 1301.403), a certificate of readiness will be considered to be filed when the Administrator receives it and one of the following conditions is satisfied:
(1) The certificate of readiness has been signed by all the parties to a claim.
(2) The certificate of readiness has been signed by one party and a stipulation has been signed by all other parties waiving any objection to the certificate.
(3) No timely objection to a certificate of readiness has been submitted to the Administrator.
(4) If any written objection was submitted, the Administrator has dismissed the objection and confirmed that the claim is ready for arbitration.
Cross References This section cited in 37 Pa. Code § 171.33 (relating to discovery limitations); 37 Pa. Code § 171.73 (relating to panel selection procedure); and 37 Pa. Code § 171.77 (relating to transfer to a Court of Common Pleas).
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