Legal nurse consultants play a crucial role in the litigation process in bridging the gap between medical claims and judicial systems. Certified legal nurse consultants are well-trained and utilize their clinical experience and specialized education to investigate medical-related problems associated with a worker compensation claim. They possess the ability to accurately interrupt the medical records and spend countless hours over a medical record searching for the commonality that links the 4 parts of the medical malpractice case. Here is a list of top five responsibilities of a legal nurse consultant.
Review Medical Records
Legal nurse consultants organize, review and summarize medical records and spend more time strategizing and managing your case. They perform a deep analysis on medical reports to identify whether professional negligence. By doing this they can get a great insight on the standard of health care provided to a client.
Instructs Colleagues
Legal nurse consultants teach their colleagues on medical facts, treatments, nursing terminology, timelines, and other relevant health care information. They serve as a liaison between lawyers and clients involved in a particular case. With their specialized expertise, legal nurse consultants keep everyone on the same page.
Case Investigations
As a professional, legal nurse consultants make most of their time to investigate the claim and digs up information on potential compensation and disability. Their professional investigation services include:
– Research compensation and disability claims – Identifies whether claims have merit
– Analyzes cases involving fraud and abuse of government funded agencies, like Medicare and Medicaid
– Review potential misconduct by a health care practitioner or facility
Trial Preparation
It is the prime duty of the legal nurse consultants to prepare chronologies of medical events, medical fact reports and summaries, graphic exhibits and other evidence for cases that go to trials. They also help lawyers in preparing questions for medical depositions and gather witnesses for testifying at trial.
Acts as an Expert Witness
Legal nurse consultants can be presented as an expert witness during the trial to feature their facts, data, and opinions based on case evidence. Based on the deep analysis they have done, legal nurse consultants have the power to produce witnesses who have specialized insight and knowledge relevant to the case.
Today, the market of legal consulting professionals is growing at a rapid pace and promises a truly stimulating career. This field is lucrative and makes a great impact on the standards of practice applied in both the health care and justice systems.