The best investment you can make to get the success you expect, one medical record at a time.
Medical records and bills are a crucial component of any case involving health, injury or illness and serve as the foundation that can make or break any case. Medical records accurately illustrate what led up to an injury, how the injury happened, the extent of the injury and any ongoing challenges a person may face as a result of the injury. Sometimes, retrieving a client's entire medical record can not only be time consuming and frustrating but it can also often delay a client’s case while you try and figure out if you have everything. When you do get all of your client’s medical records, are you suddenly finding yourself intimidated, anxious and overwhelmed by the copious amounts of information expressed in unfamiliar medical abbreviations and terminology? Are you finding yourself losing sleep? Dreading facing the case file in the morning? Spending countless hours on google trying to translate medical terms instead of spending time practicing law? Click here to learn ways to get the help you need to make sense of the records that haunt you.
As a plaintiff attorney, an independent medical exam (IME) also known as a defense medical exam (DME) can be nerve wracking especially if your client is attending this exam without an observer. How do you know if you client will get a fair examination or if the doctor will misrepresent something in his exam? What if your client is so nervous that they forget details or offer up more information than is asked? Where does that leave your case? What do you do when you don’t have the time or the medical knowledge base to attend an IME with your client? Not only can having an expert RN take the worry away, it can benefit your case and be the difference between a successful litigation or a loss. To learn more about the benefits on an expert RN for your next IME, click here.
Regardless of your litigation practice area, there will come a time when you may find yourself in need of a medical expert to testify. Finding the right expert can be a daunting and frustrating process especially if it involves a field that you have not had to deal with before. Not only are there are a lot of factors to consider with the expert themselves but there is also consideration needed for the type of expert witness. There are times when the attorney may find him/herself guessing or assuming the type of medical expert needed. This assumption can prove to be very costly and even detrimental to their client’s case. The importance of finding and retaining the right expert for your case cannot be emphasized enough. The overall purpose of any expert witness is to effectively communicate with a jury by helping them to better understand complex information in layman’s terms. An expert witness has extensive training and education and is very knowledgeable in a specific discipline. This person is also deemed an authority amongst his/her peers. It’s important to remember that your expert’s opinion is often the critical component used to establish your case or refute your opposing counsel’s case. So, why use an expert witness? How do you know what kind of expert is needed? Who can you call? To find out the answers to these questions and more, click here.
How do you determine what care and how much money a chronically ill or catastrophically disabled individual will need to cover the cost of this care for the rest of their life? The answer…. A Life Care Plan.
In a legal setting, life care plans are used to identify and accurately project a client’s necessary current and future healthcare needs and their associated monetary costs. Life care plans are created by Certified Life Care Planners for those individuals with a chronic illness or catastrophic injury with the goal of promoting and maintaining the health, safety, well-being and quality of life of that individual. A life care plan may be essential for an individual with any of the following: spinal cord injury, amputations, burns, traumatic brain injury, birth injuries, chronic pain, cerebral palsy, multiple trauma, neck and back pain, upper and lower extremity injuries, ... , and more.
A life care plan is a valuable tool that when used by attorneys, can help to accurately educate a jury regarding the client’s lifetime care needs and costs associated with these needs. Does your client need a life care plan? Are you confident with the life care plan for your client? Was the life care plan completed by a certified life care planner with medical experience? Is a plaintiff life care plan different from a defense life care plan? To find out these answers and more about life care planning services, please click here.
A Medical Cost Projection (MCP) report is a useful tool for attorneys preparing for mediation or negotiation during the settlement process. It is less detailed than a life care plan but does identify and itemize future medical costs on an uncomplicated case or a case with limited future medical care. The foundation for a future medical cost projection report is similar to that of a life care plan and may include medical record review, analyzing medical needs and determining related cost information from various sources for the geographical area where the treatment or equipment is received. Future cost projections are a valuable tool to ensure your client has accurate reserves or settlement to receive the future treatment needed. Nurses are highly credentialed medical experts with a wealth of knowledge to help promote and maintain a client’s quality of life from a medical and financial standpoint.
