Blog Post

Medical Review Cases Explained | Exigent

June 12, 2017

 By : Amy Dennerlein RN,BSN | Senior Consultant
USA


The human stories behind dealing with personal injury cases and medical review. True experience from our legal nurse consulting team.

 
 

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Image Copyright: Exigent Group

I joined the Exigent Group in January this year to build the medical malpractice records review business by developing a network of nurses and medico-legal experts to assist legal firms in bringing more complex cases to trial. Exigent had a medical injuries business but I wanted to take those skills and add 28 years of expert nursing and understanding of numerous specialist areas, to transform the offering.

Since then our medical malpractice review business has expanded by 400% and we now have a network onshore and scale offshore delivering early case assessment to depositions and trial preparation. I work with an ever expanding network of medical experts within Exigent, being the focal point for inbound enquiries and expert output. My team of highly qualified nurses and case assessment experts are often the right place to find the right specialists; often attorneys choose the wrong specialist – through no fault of their own; merely a lack of invaluable knowledge that comes from three decades of working in hospitals. This means opportunities lost and victims undercompensated or cases dismissed.

Apart from Exigent’s long history of reviewing cases in personal injury, what could have brought this sudden boost? I think it’s the perfect mix of experienced legal nurse consulting by nurses, physicians and pharmacists that results in the highest level of expertise in depositions and trials in personal injury cases.

The human stories behind medical review cases

Today I would like to share the untold part of this journey. Perhaps the most surprising and rewarding part is the human stories behind these medical review cases and how our clients have taken mine and my team’s skills and used them to add even greater value than we had contemplated.

For example, let me talk about a personal injury firm in US specializing in, but not limited to, industrial injuries suffered by ironworkers and demolition and construction workers. My role has expanded after reviewing all relevant medical records to include interviewing surviving plaintiffs and/or the family/significant others of the deceased. Based on my interviews, I am assisting this firm in selecting pertinent witnesses to be deposed for trial.

The interviews also reveal the overall ‘story’ of the plaintiffs’ lives to create a vivid image for the jury at trial. This story is critical in appealing to the jury for the optimal verdict for the client/remaining family members. It is an emotionally taxing task for both the interviewees and myself at times!  But because of our nursing background, my team and I are able to assess all physical, psychological, social, and financial damages to provide critical information for our law firm representing those unfortunate enough to be involved in accidents. When I watched Erin Brockovich, I never really appreciated how deeply the families and survivors suffered. But it is really striking how empathy (a fundamental part of medical training) can elicit information that otherwise would be left untold. I was struck by an Erin quote: “If you follow your heart, if you listen to your gut, and if you extend your hand to help another, not for any agenda, but for the sake of humanity, you are going to find the truth”.

They refer to me as their consultant with expertise in key witness interview and selection. One of the cases involved the wife and four children of a deceased ironworker, killed on site. The attorney wanted the children to be witnesses on trial. The mother only agreed after I assured her I would be there for the children; it was an unexpected compliment but it really brought home in a stark way the value of the services we continue to evolve.

It’s a great role; a totally new aspect of really using my nursing expertise!  It is incredibly rewarding and demanding but highly valued. Put simply, survivors of tragedy want to share the lives of their lost ones and the suffering caused in a relaxed and informal way. Very challenging, but we make it easy with constant support. We can assess what this all means medically and, if required, look at a life plan consequences and costs.

One of the many upsides is to meet and greet fabulous people and explore the lives of people who are genuinely affected by their losses.

 
 

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