At Medical Resource Network, we’ve had the opportunity to assist with many unique cases that don’t typically find their way to other legal nurse consulting firms. Providing our clients with information to resolve their concerns, while staying within our scope of practice, is always our goal. We’re happy to accommodate requests to evaluate unusual circumstances, such as those described below.
Medical Record Reviews For Criminal Cases
In one of our medical records review cases, the claimant sustained a severe head injury from a motor vehicle accident. Police officers stated that, upon arrival in the emergency department, the claimant gave consent for a blood draw testing for substances. The medical records noted that the claimant was disoriented from the time of the assessment at the accident scene and remained so until emergency surgery because of bleeding in the brain. Consequently, the medical records did not support an argument that the claimant could have given consent.
Examples of MRN’s assistance to prosecuting and defense counsel includes:
- Review victim’s medical records to explain the extent of injuries.
- Differentiate verifiable injuries caused by an incident from preexisting conditions.
- Assist counsel in understanding the scope of injuries that occurred.
- Provide recommendations for and retain medical experts.
- Review medical records for possible evidence of physical crimes such as excessive force, sexual assault, or domestic violence.
Medical Record Reviews For Commercial Business Insurance / Large Injury Cases
People with extensive medical histories might erroneously claim that new injuries have worsened long-term medical conditions, resulting in a loss of income and the need for treatment. Often, these people have received treatment for years without resolution or improvement of their symptoms and subsequently claim a small incident is now responsible for continued treatment and loss of employment. MRN works with attorneys to focus the medical record review and analysis in order to best assist them in their defense. The question we frequently receive from defense attorneys is whether the claim is accurate. Review of insurance and medical records can identify an individual’s health care patterns, and this information can help assist attorneys in determining their course of action. This task can provide immeasurable assistance to clients in high dollar lawsuits.
Examples of what we have found, in the course of our medical record review and analysis, include: uncovering a laboratory result that changed the course of a case; comparing claims across various providers and insurers that proved an individual misrepresented his condition; and locating IME reports showing injuries were stable, often over decades, providing support for defense of a claim.
Medical Record Review For Injuries on Public Property or School Property
Self-insured cities and school systems have utilized MRN to assist them in understanding injuries that occurred on their properties. MRN can distinguish acute injuries from long-term preexisting conditions and provide recommendations for experts to assist in the defense or settlement of cases.
Medical Record Review For Human Resource Issues
MRN has arranged for medical examinations to allow employers to address their concerns regarding an employee’s fitness for duty or ability to perform the essential functions of a job.
Medical Record Reviews For Individuals
As nurses, we’re trained to educate patients regarding their medical conditions at a level that they can understand. Over the years, we’ve provided education to privately paying individuals. When people are representing themselves in different venues, they’ve asked for objective reports of their medical history in order to defend the development of an injury, the need for a specific medical test, or the need for durable medical equipment. Sometimes individuals request a review of medical records to explain what happened to them or their loved ones. We’ve also furnished verbal assessments of the medical records in order to potentially identify standard of care violations.
Medical Record Review For Necessity Of Treatment
Cases in which treatment is thought to be excessive have been referred to MRN for review. We can provide review of the medical records to assess the treatment and determine whether it was, in fact, necessary.
Any time medical facts need to be extracted from medical records, MRN can help! “Medical fact finding for sound decision making” is more than just our tagline – it’s what we do every day.
For more information on our legal nurse consulting services, or to schedule a free consultation to talk about our legal nurse consulting services, including medical record reviews, medical chronologies, and summaries and analyses, call (888) 899-1406, or e-mail medres@medres.net.
Click here to read about the consequences of a discrepancy in the medical record review (EMRs).
