how to write a summary for medical malpractice attorney

by Hermann Gusikowski 7 min read

To organize your thoughts, it can be helpful to write a summary or a timeline of the events that occurred. Write down the highlights of your case, such as when you first observed symptoms or complications, when you sought medical care for these complications, what your diagnosis was, and what your treatment recommendations were.

How to Write a Medical Malpractice Demand Letter
  1. Keep in mind some general considerations. ...
  2. Start off with a proper heading. ...
  3. Summarize all of the relevant facts. ...
  4. Go into detail about your injuries. ...
  5. Explain your treatments and ongoing care. ...
  6. Mention the intangible damages that impact your life.
Sep 16, 2014

Full Answer

What is a medical summary for an attorney?

Medical summary | Malpractice incident Example 93. Malpractice incident(s) summaries outline the cause of the injury and its consequences on the patient. They detail the event based on a micro timeline of the incident followed by a condition summary and the impact of the injury so that legal and insurance evaluation is well informed.

What are summaries used for in a malpractice case?

Traditional medical summaries consist of a text-based summary of the plaintiff’s medical records. They are often incorporated by the plaintiff attorney into a statement of the facts of a claim, a settlement brochure or a demand letter. The emphasis is on the plaintiff’s symptoms, treatment, prognosis and permanency of injuries.

How do I write a medical malpractice claim form?

 · In the heading you want to include your name, date of birth, the date of the incident and the name of the party responsible for your losses. Summarize all of the relevant facts. The next step in writing a demand letter for medical malpractice is to lay out the details about the incident that led to your injuries.

How do you list medical malpractice on a resume?

 · In a medical malpractice action, a plaintiff, in opposition to a defendant physician’s summary judgment motion, must submit evidentiary facts or materials to rebut the prima facie showing by the defendant physician that he was not negligent in treating the plaintiff so as to demonstrate the existence of a “triable issue of fact.” Id.

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How do you write a good medical summary?

A good medical summary will include two components: 1) log of all medications and 2) record of past and present medical conditions. Information covered in these components will include: Contact information for doctors, pharmacy, therapists, dentist – anyone involved in their medical care. Current diagnosis.

What is medical summarization process?

Medical summarization is the process of categorizing and analyzing intricate medical data, and converting into medico-legally authenticated records. With advancement in the medical technology, large amounts of medical data get recorded at various facilities every minute.

What are the four common errors that could lead to a medical malpractice lawsuit?

Prescription Errors Hospital staff incorrectly administers a medication, such as by providing the incorrect dosage. A pharmacist fills the medication incorrectly. Dangerous drug interactions are not recognized before the medications are taken.

What is an example of negligence in healthcare?

Failure to diagnose or misdiagnosing an injury or illness. Misreading or ignoring laboratory results. Unnecessary surgery. Surgical errors or wrong site surgery.

What is medical coding?

According to the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC)®, the medical coding definition reads as follows: “Medical coding is the transformation of healthcare diagnosis, procedures, medical services and equipment into universal medical alphanumeric codes.”2 Put simply, this refers to the process of translating ...

What is the medical transcription?

Medical transcription (MT) is the manual processing of voice reports dictated by physicians and other healthcare professionals into text format. The MT team of a hospital typically receives the voice files with dictation of medical documents from healthcare providers.

What is the most important type of evidence in a medical malpractice case?

Your medical record is the most important piece of evidence you can use to support your claim. It shows your original condition, the treatment you received, and your condition after receiving treatment. This is one specific piece of evidence that should be part of every medical malpractice claim.

What is the most common malpractice claim?

In no particular order, the following are types of the most common medical malpractice claims:Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis.Failure to treat.Prescription drug errors.Surgical or procedural errors.Childbirth injuries.

What kind of mistakes can result in medical malpractice?

Surgery errors are extremely common because of the delicate nature of the procedure. Outrageous situations can also occur—including leaving tools or instruments inside a patient or operating on the wrong body part. Surgery errors end up accounting for roughly one-third of all medical malpractice claims.

What is the difference between malpractice and negligence?

When a medical provider's actions or inactions fail to meet the medical standard of care, their behavior constitutes medical negligence. If their medical negligence causes their patient to suffer an injury, it becomes medical malpractice.

What is an example of a medical legal problem?

Examples of medical malpractice that a patient may claim in a lawsuit include: Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose. Delayed diagnosis. Childbirth injuries.

What are 2 examples of unintentional torts?

Unintentional torts are based around negligence, which even though can be accidental, can still be punishable under civil law. Ramifications usually involve recompense or restitution. Common examples of unintentional torts include car accidents, slip and falls, medical malpractice, dog bites, and workplace accidents.

What is a medical record?

A medical record is the chronological record of a patient’s medical events. Medical records are typically stored in EHR (Electronic Health Record)...

What is a medical summary?

Medical Summaries organize and summarize medical data from multiple healthcare and non-healthcare providers in a sequence that makes it easy to rev...

Can I see an example of your medical summary?

Telegenisys has hundreds of different summary formats with differences as requested by our clients. You can see some of the formats here https://ww...

What types of medical summaries do you produce?

We produce summaries, special reports, abstracts and data presentations of medical data in a wide variety of formats. Our clients are law firms, in...

How is your medical summary different?

Every summary we do includes a hyper referenced medical chronology and medical database of the patient. We are a medical services firm who uses US...

Who uses medical summaries?

Our clients are law firms, insurance companies, researchers and healthcare companies. Virtually anyone who needs to review medical information quic...

How does a medical summary speed up case review?

Medical summaries are produced to client specifications to serve a specific use case. Each summary is developed with exactly the view a customer ne...

Can I export the data I need from your medical summary?

Yes! Each summary is delivered with a medical chronology which contains the medical database of the patient.

In what format/s do you deliver medical summaries?

Our default set includes a fully referenced pdf with bookmarks and hyperlinks. Microsoft word for summaries. Microsoft Excel for structured data wi...

How do I hire you to do medical chronologies?

Just reach out for a discussion with us and we are sure you will be pleased with our promptness and quality of work. Reach us at https://www.telege...

What is medical summary?

The summary concisely describes the accident, the mechanism of injury and the immediate care provided at the scene and in the emergency room. The records of hospital stay and of subsequent treating physicians are summarized, ...

What are medical illustrations?

Medical illustrations. The sources of medical illustrations include hand drawings, textbooks or other printed material and software. Scanned photographs of the plaintiff personalize the medical summary and are useful for showing scars, medical equipment, and other aspects of damages.

Keep in mind some general considerations

Before you get started writing, you should appreciate the qualities that separate a good demand letter from a bad one. A good one is well written and clearly states its purpose. It will summarize all of the evidence to supports your claim, from the injuries you suffered to your losses.

Start off with a proper heading

At the outset, you want to identify yourself and provide some basic information. If you’ve been injured as a result of medical malpractice, you’ll need a way for an insurance company or opposing party to link you to your claim.

Summarize all of the relevant facts

The next step in writing a demand letter for medical malpractice is to lay out the details about the incident that led to your injuries. It’s important to be clear and concise on your points, listing any and all of the facts surrounding your encounter with the healthcare professionals responsible for your injuries.

Go into detail about your injuries

It’s essential that you list all of the injuries you suffered as a result of negligence, recklessness or other wrongdoing in your medical malpractice demand letter. Start off by describing the most severe or painful injuries that you sustained, and then move on to those that are more minor.

Explain your treatments and ongoing care

As a result of your injuries due to medical malpractice, you have likely been treated by a number of physicians, specialists and healthcare providers.

Mention the intangible damages that impact your life

Once you mention the physical injuries you’ve suffered and identified your course of treatment in your demand letter for medical malpractice, you need to discuss the intangible losses.

Include any other evidence discovered during your investigation

Chances are you’ve uncovered other information that can support your case since the medical malpractice incident. If you’ve spoken to witnesses and they’re willing to testify or be available for deposition, identify them by name.

The Standard of Proof

The proponent of a motion for summary judgment is required to make a prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law, by advancing sufficient evidentiary proof in admissible form to demonstrate the absence of any material issues of fact.

What Constitutes a Material Issue of Fact? A Battle of the Experts

Oftentimes, the sufficiency of a defendant’s summary judgment motion (and the plaintiff’s opposition), hinges on expert opinion submitted in the form of an affidavit.

What does PRN mean in medical terms?

QID means four times a day; TID means three times a day; BID means twice daily, and PRN means that the medication, such as pain medicine, is to be taken as often as needed for pain control.

Why does my neck curve?

The cervical spinal column in the neck has a natural curve, and a loss of this curve may show that the neck was going into muscle spasm and thereby caused the neck to involuntarily straighten. “Spasm” is the involuntary tightening of muscles and is frequently associated with strain/sprain type injuries and pain.

Can an attorney evaluate a claim?

An attorney can evaluate a claim only after completely understanding the injury and its relationship to the incident in question. Paralegals have the option of utilizing medical record review services that will help submit timely medical records summary reports for attorney review, but more often than not a paralegal will do the bulk ...

Can medical abbreviations be used in a summary?

The abbreviations can be used in a summary if everyone using the medical summary is familiar with them; if people unfamiliar with such abbreviations will be using the summary, then the full form of the word or phrase should be provided. Definition of medical terms can be included in a medical summary for quick reference.

What is a medical chronology?

Additionally, a medical chron ology identifies critical information such as the provider and type of record. The challenge is that paralegals with little training in medical terminology, treatment procedures, and other relevant aspects of the records may have to identify and report important details such as pre-existing conditions and treatment gaps.

What is DOI in medical?

But the paralegal must highlight all injuries that are related to that particular injury. The DOI helps distinguish one injury from another in a plaintiff’s medical chart. Causation of the injury or illness as reported by the patient.

Why is medical chronology important?

It is significant in that it will be used for discovery and investigation, for preparing for the trial, for reporting to the claims adjuster, and for preparation of exhibits and used as reference when examining witnesses.

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