Medical Record Analysis and Review – the Need for an Investigative Approach
The process of medical record review and analysis is not a simple one. It requires special analytical skills and a good knowledge of the medical facts involved.
MOS MEDICAL RECORD REVIEW 8956 E .101st Street , Suite H Tulsa, OK 74133 Phone: 1-800-670-2809 [Type text]
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Medical Record Analysis and Review – the Need for an Investigative Approach The process of medical record analysis and review is not a simple one. It requires special analytical skills and a good knowledge of the medical facts involved. This means that a medical record review team must include medical professionals such as physicians and nurses who are experienced in extracting relevant medical data. Expert medical reviewers usually adopt an investigative or exploratory approach in order to find the entire truth of a personal injury case. They focus on providing their legal clients with comprehensive screening and analysis of the medical records. In the course of this screening and analysis, they will also find out what is missing from the medical chart. There is no doubt that the review of medical records must be done by a team that has the required experience, which makes the service of a medical record review company invaluable to legal professionals. Attorneys can ensure flawless analysis of causation with reliable information regarding primary and secondary injuries, pre-existing conditions and other contributory factors. Moreover, with the support of a reliable medical record review firm, handling voluminous medical records become easy. What the Medical Record Review Process Involves A review of all relevant medical records would involve the following. •
Analysis in detail of medico-legal cases for merit
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Identifying any deviations from and adherence to standards of care
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Evaluation of alleged injuries or damages, and communicating the results in easyto-understand language
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Identifying primary factors of causation
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Identifying pre-existing conditions that may have contributed to the alleged injuries and damages
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Medical record organization and indexing
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Preparing medical case chronology
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Identifying issues such as tampering with the medical records
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Summarizing the medical records in the required format
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Identifying and reviewing hospital policies and procedures, billing records, and other important documents of discovery.
www.mosmedicalrecordreview.com
1-800-670-2809
Why an Investigative Approach Is Necessary • Only through an investigative approach the reviewer can find the medical facts that have a direct bearing on the case. A simple analysis of the records is not enough because personal injury cases are mostly complex and it requires considerable expertise to review the medical documentation and extract the necessary details. • The reviewer should also be able to identify the relationship between particular medical details and the injury/illness. Things to take into account include the nature and extent of injury, and alternative explanations for the alleged complaints. Other issues to address would be aggravation, exacerbation, impairment and disability wherever applicable. • Only through an analytical approach can the strengths and weaknesses of the case can be identified. • Again, only a shrewd reviewer can find out whether there are missing or incomplete medical records. Whether to Outsource Medical Record Analysis and Review Lawyers should consider whether their in-house staff can adopt this exploratory
approach
when
reviewing
medical
records.
The
information contained in the medical records is very significant during
deposition,
trial
preparation
and
when
negotiating
settlements. Since the required information is hidden within doctors’/nurses’ notes, it is difficult for a non-medical professional to understand and unearth it. This is when lawyers can consider seeking external assistance for the medical record review. Outsourcing becomes a good alternative in the following scenarios.
When the case is associated with specialized clinical aspects that in-house legal staff may not have experience with
When there are large caseloads that require a step-by-step review process
When you want to ensure HIPAA compliance
www.mosmedicalrecordreview.com
1-800-670-2809
Effective analysis of medical records is important in personal injury and medical malpractice litigation. A professional medical review team comprising registered nurses and other medical professionals can prove highly efficient. •
Such a team will provide the attorney with a comprehensive case analysis to determine relevant pre-existing issues in personal injury cases.
•
Complex medical procedures and issues will be explained
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The review will be done so fastidiously that there will be no damaging “surprises” or legally relevant medical aspects left unrevealed.
www.mosmedicalrecordreview.com
1-800-670-2809