You may see this in a notice from a claims office, a lawyer's letter, or a conversation about what happens before a medical malpractice lawsuit can fully move forward: a group of medical and legal professionals may be asked to review the claim and give an early opinion on whether the health care provider likely met the standard of care. That group is a medical review panel. It does not decide the case for good, but it can evaluate records, hear limited evidence, and issue findings that may shape what happens next.

In practice, a medical review panel acts like an early checkpoint. Its opinion can encourage settlement, narrow the issues, or make one side rethink the strength of the claim. It can also add time, cost, and paperwork - about the last thing an injured patient needs after a bad outcome. Even so, the panel's view may carry weight because it comes from people with relevant expertise.

In Maryland, medical malpractice claims are governed by the Health Care Malpractice Claims Act and usually begin with the Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office rather than going straight to court. Maryland does not use a standing "medical review panel" in the same way some states do, but claimants generally must file with that office and provide a certificate of qualified expert within 90 days under Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 3-2A-04. Missing that step can seriously damage a claim.