In a personal injury claim, a medical malpractice lawsuit, or a mass tort case, medical records serve as valuable evidence as well as an initial review of the case. These documents form the basis of the legal strategy, the client’s claims, and even the pre-trial settlement. Nonetheless, these documents are complicated to review as they are written in a complex manner which legal practitioners are not trained in.
Attorneys make errors not only because the documents are difficult to interpret, but also because of a lack of experience, which oftentimes results in an ineffectual case, undue delays, or loss of the case. The following are five mistakes that can occur while reviewing medical records and the steps one can take to prevent them.
Failing to Obtain Complete Medical Records
The failure to get complete medical records is one of the most serious issues associated with attorneys. Without any context, it is incomprehensible to understand a client’s medical background and the injury suffered. If documents, like the physicians’ notes, tests, operations, or rehabilitation records, are not included, it might result in a weakened claim.
Misinterpreting Medical Terminology and Jargon
Medical records consist of a plethora of words and symbols that may boggle the mind of a person lacking a medical background. Without the context of the situation, it is easy to mix up the meaning of such words, especially when it comes to a patient’s injuries and therapies. Not classifying such evidence logically can result in adversities in legal situations.
Overlooking Pre-Existing Conditions
Attorneys sometimes seem to mix the incidents that harmed the client and pre-existing factors. Claiming the case in such a situation is like shooting oneself in the foot, for it is easy to get rebutted by the opposition attorney or even an insurance company self-defaming a case.
Ignoring Gaps in Treatment
Failure to receive medical treatment is one of the indicators that insurance companies and defense attorneys may use to claim that the complainant’s injuries were either non-existent or unrelated to the claim event. Even worse, these gaps are sometimes left unchecked, which can unravel an otherwise solid case.
Not Organizing and Summarizing Records Effectively
Most medical files are highly detailed, which makes them easy to misplace and difficult to use if they are not properly sorted. As a result, when attorneys do not organize and summarize the records well, they may be at a disadvantage when presenting evidence during settlement negotiations or in court.
Conclusion
Medical record review is an essential element that is necessary in personal injury and medical malpractice cases, and so are these mistakes. Attorneys who gather these records and determine the meaning of the medical information while adequately organizing their findings are in a better position to represent their clients.
For medical records review, it would be advisable to consult people who deal with medical-legal casework. They would be able to assist in providing better accuracy and effectiveness for winning a case.
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Medical malpractice cases can be intricate, difficult, and slow. A successful outcome, for lawyers, frequently depends on their ability to provide proof that is reliable, extensive, and meticulously documented. This step of the process is perhaps one of the most crucial: carrying out a medical chart review. Not carrying out this step can lead to a collapse and loss of most, if not all, of its merit.
Role of Medical Chart Review in Building Strong Medical Malpractice Cases
Analysis of medical records is one of the most tedious tasks. It involves looking into a patient’s notes from doctors, lab work, imaging, and any other forms of documentation related to that patient’s records. In malpractice cases, these records hold the case together and prove crucial in determining how the triage process is managed and developed and at what point the provider and patient system went off course to cause harm.
Through comprehensive analysis of the medical records, attorneys can find:
- Documentation of the process of treatment, and variances in the care provided.
- Instances of medical negligence where the level of care fell too low.
- Examine similar case reports of medical malpractice for patterns using chart review analytics.
Medical charts can be analyzed using a template, making it easier for the lawyer to gather relevant information. Attorneys need to know how to properly conduct a medical chart review because details that can be of great importance may be easily missed.
Consequences of Skipping Medical Chart Reviews: Real-Life Examples
Neglecting a medical review may prove fatal, as real-life accounts of the prevalence of malpractice cases have proven. For the sake of argument, malpractice comprises one category of famous law cases wherein the attorney failed to thoroughly perform an analysis of the checks, and inconsistencies in patient care ultimately led to a loss of the case. One story revolves around a cancer misdiagnosed where the patient’s medical records provided evidence for previous misdiagnoses that the medical fraternity failed to address. Having incomplete medical reviews meant that the attorney overlooked these pertinent details and thus, the case was dismissed.
In addition, recent news on medical malpractice claims shows how poor chart review can make losing and winning a big difference. Concerning building a case, attorneys need never underestimate the process of chart analysis.
Benefits of Conducting a Comprehensive Medical Chart Review for Attorneys
Charting an examination appears to be a vital resource for a lawyer. Here are several advantages:
- Uncover Hidden Evidence: Comprehensive charting and examining medical records can reveal uncommon forms of malpractice like misdiagnosed cases or even wrong prescriptions leading to important evidence that can make a case.
- Strengthen Your Arguments: These medical malpractice cases can make a difference when a patient medical chart is presented in court as evidence to the judge and jury.
- Spot Inconsistencies: Going through this process aids in identifying gaps in both the medical records of the patient and the account given by the defendant which can be useful for cross-examination.
- Save Time and Resources: Once a medical chart review is conducted, a decision on the merit of a case is arrived at swiftly. This is important in eliminating cases that do not have adequate backing evidence for support.
By understanding types of medical malpractice and reviewing past medical malpractice cases stories, an attorney prepares himself/herself to tackle the most difficult of cases.
Conclusion
There is no question that the review of the medical chart is extremely important in malpractice cases. The process of medical chart review is fundamental to most legal mechanisms to establish the primary proof and to set forth a general strategy in the legal proceedings.
This is an essential stage that attorneys cannot afford to overlook today, let alone in the infamous medical malpractice cases. They will lose the battle. A complete review gives them a fighting chance because they will be ready for their client’s interests.