🚨Catastrophic Injuries🚨The role of Legal Nurse Consultants for PI/Med Mal Law Firms

Within the specialized fields of catastrophic injury and medical malpractice litigation, legal professionals routinely face the challenge of synthesizing vast quantities of medical documentation. These cases are inherently multifaceted with a multitude of specialized professions documenting across the care continuum. Catastrophic injuries are devastating for the individual and can be daunting for their legal team.
💭Knowing which documents to request and where to find the pertinent information is essential. Typical record requests include:

➡️Emergency/911 Call
➡️Pre-hospital documentation by EMS
➡️Emergency Room Trauma stabilization
➡️Acute radiological imaging and lab testing
➡️Emergent treatments including medication administration
➡️Emergent procedures
➡️Emergent surgery
➡️Post procedure/surgical/anesthetic recovery
➡️Prolonged In-patient hospitalization, usually with critical care needs
➡️Subsequent long-term rehabilitation in SNF/LTACH
➡️Post rehab care – PT/OT
➡️Home health care
➡️Durable medical equipment and in-home modification needs
➡️Trauma informed mental health care
➡️Billing, EOB, DRG, ICD10, HCPCS, CPT

♦️These records may also include several electronic health record systems that do not interface.
♦️Anesthesia and procedural areas may document interventions on paper.
♦️The nursing policy may be to document by exception with prepopulated flow sheets that are not included with traditional nursing notes.

*The list is EXTENSIVE but not exhaustive, as each case is different*

My years of hands-on experience in Level I & II trauma centers, specifically within intensive care, neurointerventional/peripheral radiology and as a case manager on a catastrophic WC injury team provide me with a unique understanding of the patient’s entire care continuum. Incorporating a comprehensive approach from immediate critical interventions to comprehensive long-term recovery. I leverage this specialized expertise to champion for individuals who have sustained catastrophic injuries in accidents, slip-and-falls, workplace incidents, or because of medical negligence.

As seen above, catastrophic injury cases include a voluminous amount of records that can reach upwards of twenty to thirty thousand pages. These cases may weigh on your team, causing time 🕕 constraints, worry over expensive upfront costs or even the difficult consideration of referring complex matters to other firms.

Don’t let these facets of catastrophic injury cases lead to uncertainty or frustration for your firm. Scope Meets Gavel, LLC is uniquely positioned to manage and translate the intricate and complex information to your legal team. Have a medical record sleuth 🕵️ in your corner!

What challenges have you encountered in regards to catastrophic injury litigation? Let me know below. ⬇️

Cassie Guthrie MHA, BSN, RN
Legal Nurse Consultant
scope_meets_gavel_llc@outlook.com