Significance Of Maintaining Medical Records In Personal Injury Cases

Any car accident, slip and fall, product liability, medical malpractice and other injury cases falls under personal injury cases. Medical records play a key role in proving these cases. Without relevant medical records, there is no documentation of the injury and personal injury lawyers cannot prove that the claimant has been hurt as the result of another person’s or organization’s negligence. Attorneys handling these cases can benefit from associating with an experienced medical record review company to obtain medical evidence through chart review, medical case chronology, record organization and other services. Important medical records that attorneys use as a good evidence to win injury cases include doctors’ notes, emergency room records, diagnosis reports, medication descriptions, treatment notes, medical bills and more.

Maintaining and reviewing medical records in injury cases is important, as they –

• are proof of any injury that occurred
• reveal the extent of an injury
• inform a request for treatment
• will show what injuries were sustained
• highlight the extent of pain experienced by the person
• allows a medical expert to analyze the records to determine the cause of the injuries
• are legal evidence for the attorney to prove the case
• help to calculate damages sustained by the injured person
• prove what treatment was given, what ongoing conditions the person has
• show how the injury may affect their life, now and in the future
• provide evidence to determine whether doctors exercised reasonable care

Proper evidence is essential to develop the case and prepare the best argument. Medical review companies can support attorneys in diverse ways to extract crucial evidence from the collected medical records and maintain the records in a proper format.

Medical Records Organization

Well-organized, indexed, and bates-stamped records are easy to access and review. Clearly labeled records make it easy to find proper evidence even out of a huge amount of records. Medical review firms provide services of skilled reviewers, who can organize and index the medical records accurately and analyze them efficiently. Medical records organization mainly involves capturing the dates, procedures, and other relevant data, highlighting critical events, deleting duplicate records, identifying missing records, Bates numbering and creating summaries for quick review of complex medical information.

Medical Case Chronology

A medical case chronology provides a concise record of all medical facts related to the injury claim. With an accurate chronology, attorneys can better understand the sequence of medical events – the nature of injury or illness, what treatment was provided, and whether it was appropriate and more. Accurate medical chronology will help strengthen the case, as the timeline and summary prepared helps to clarify all confusing aspects of the case and understand what exactly happened. It provides an objective analysis of the case.

Medical Chart Review

Chart review helps attorneys to determine the strengths and weaknesses of a case and develop the argument properly. Chart review also provides a clear view of patient diagnosis and provides proper treatment and care. Key areas that are reviewed in a medical chart include emergency notes, past medical history, reported medications, lab reports, progress notes and more.

Personal injury attorneys can rely on professional medical review services to review and organize the medical records, and provide chronology or summary that can help to gain important medical insights that are essential to develop the argument and go on to win the case.