Medical record review is the process of analyzing a patient’s medical records for a legal or insurance claim. Precise medical record reviews act as solid evidence, reflecting the damages sustained by a claimant. This would help the claim by bagging the best compensation deserved by the claimant.
This blog will sail through the role of medical record reviewing in proving medical battery, a type of personal injury lawsuit.
Medical Battery
Medical battery occurs when a physician performs any medical procedure on a patient without consent. Does that come under medical malpractice? No, medical battery and medical malpractice are different though they sound the same.
Medical malpractice is defined as a healthcare provider’s professional carelessness that results in subpar care and causes harm to a patient. On the other hand, medical battery focuses on a person’s rights in relation to the care he receives.
It is also possible that a medical professional could be charged with a crime for providing therapy to a patient who is mentally competent without his consent. An act of medical battery is to impose even the best care on an uninformed patient.
Even if the medical procedure has benefited the patient, he can proceed with a medical battery lawsuit if done without his knowledge.
When does a medical battery occur?
A medical event could be a medical battery under any of the following circumstances.
- When a procedure is carried out by a medical professional without the patient’s permission.
- When a medical professional conducts a procedure, the patient did not consent to.
- When the patient gave conditional consent to.
- When the professional performs a procedure that is significantly different from what the patient accepted.
A patient might experience improved health as a result of, for instance, an organ removal against their will. The medical battery would still take place even if the patient refused consent, the conditions of conditional consent were not satisfied, or there had been no emergency.
Elements in a Medical Battery Claim
The following are the three elements to be proved in a medical battery lawsuit.
- Intent
- Causation
- Harmful or offensive contact
How to file a medical battery lawsuit?
Are you a victim of medical battery? You can file the lawsuit with the support of an expert medical battery attorney. Like a medical malpractice claim or any other personal injury lawsuit, a medical battery lawsuit should also be filed within the statute of limitations demanded by the state law.
Patients hurt by medical professionals who failed to obtain informed consent for a non-emergency procedure may be entitled to file claims for medical battery brought about by unauthorized treatment in order to receive financial compensation for their damages.
In medical battery lawsuits, the plaintiff must show that the medical provider intended to physically carry out the act, not that the medical provider did so on purpose to cause the harm.
Medical Record Reviews- The Evidence Required to Prove Medical Battery
Like any other personal injury lawsuit, medical records of the claimant should be used to substantiate a medical battery lawsuit. The medical charts of the plaintiff are subjected to an extensive medical record review process to identify and present case-relevant medical data.
A standard medical chart review process involves the following steps.
- Medical record retrieval
- Sorting and organization of records
- Data analysis and interpretation
- Creating patient timeline/chronology
- Preparation of medical record summary
- Missing record identification
The medical record review experts would analyze the medical charts in detail to study the subject medical procedure in detail.
In a medical battery lawsuit, the defendants would obviously make an effort to demonstrate that the patient truly gave their consent to the procedure. This must be supported by either medical records or witness testimony attesting to the patient’s agreement.
The patient’s decision to refuse treatment may be called into doubt if the defense can show that they lacked the mental capacity to make their own informed choices. When the patient was drunk or unconscious before the treatment, the provider may have had to continue with the subject procedure.
During medical reviewing, the review experts would figure out if an informed consent was signed by the plaintiff or his bystanders for the subject procedure. A detailed analysis of the informed consent form by the review expert would prove that the claimant was unaware of the particular procedure carried out.
Medical record review would also give a clear-cut idea on the details of the procedure and how it was done. Medical record review also helps in understanding if the subject procedure was done under an emergency situation for which a medical battery cannot be applied.
If the subject case involves an accident in which the claimant had lost the consciousness and was subjected to an emergency procedure, it would be reflected in the medical chart. Such situations where the patient is not conscious of providing consent to proceed with an emergency procedure is excluded from the medical battery. During medical record reviewing, the review expert would get to know if the claimant was conscious of providing consent for the procedure.
Recovery for all past, present, and future injuries are one of the legal repercussions of a medical battery lawsuit. This could entail payment for damages such as cuts, bruising, illnesses, or discomfort. Non-economic damages covered in the lawsuit would include mental anguish, worry about the future, loss of enjoyment of life, and inconvenience with daily chores.
To conclude, even the slightest details in the medical records may have an impact on the likelihood that a medical malpractice lawsuit will succeed. Cross-checking and tiered auditing of medical record review reports are required as a result.
Expert medical record reviewers can easily identify even the minute clashes in the medical records and the surgery notes. The strength and weakness in the records would be listed out in detail to help the attorney understand the case in a better way.
Offshoring companies that offer medical record review and analysis employ a variety of levels of content review and quality analysis approaches. This will undoubtedly be reflected in the consistency and caliber of the reports from the review of the medical records.
