Connecting with the right medical expert to perform a case review is a critical step in the process of finding the best resolution to a legal case. The goal is to find a highly skilled, knowledgeable, and unbiased physician or specialist who will take the time to thoughtfully review the situation and offer their perspective. Determining the threshold for Standard of Care is generally not black and white and requires a deep review of all documentation by a specialist with a broad, educated perspective.
Although there are various team members who may find themselves ordering a case review, it is often handled by a nurse paralegal at a medical malpractice law firm. This is the role that Adrienne Fugett, the VP of Clinical Operations at Medplace, was in for a number of years. She shares with us 5 key steps to find the right medical expert for a legal case review.
1 Determine the right type of medical expert
One of the reasons it is critical for a medical practitioner to be the one to manage this process starts at the very beginning. There are many facets to medicine and when a detailed analysis of a situation is being performed it makes a significant difference to have the best matched expert reviewing the case. This often means diving into the nuance of specialty areas to determine the profile of the expert needed.
2 Find a true expert in their field
Most law firms have a small network of providers they trust to give unbiased reviews. The process of finding and contracting with new experts can be so time consuming that it may feel like it adds friction. Yet, it is owed to both the patient and the practitioner that the very best expert be secured.
When thinking about who is approaching their area of specialty with the most studious, methodical mindset it works well to search recently published articles related to the medical issue at hand, then find the physicians noted in the bibliography of that report. If they are still a practicing physician they may be the perfect person to reach out to.
3 Be clear and persistent with your outreach
If we stand in the shoes of a medical specialist’s day, a phone call from an unknown law firm might not be something they immediately assume to be a positive and exciting opportunity coming their way. So, it’s important to clearly communicate that we are looking to hire them to offer their medical opinion on a case and to follow up multiple times. Generally speaking, most medical specialists find it interesting to thoughtfully review a situation and use their expertise to help offer a fresh perspective. It just takes some diligence to get through to them with the opportunity.
Once you do reach them, if the expert does not have their own fee schedule already prepared, it’s helpful to have a clear contract and proposed rate schedule handy. When you come to the contracting conversation with a recommendation it helps set a baseline of the scope and expectation of the engagement, and it speeds up any negotiation needed.
4 Provide focused records
Once your expert is on board and ready to do their review, it’s time to get them the case information in a HIPPA compliant way. A complete set of records can be hundreds, if not thousands, of pages long. That is a lot for a medical expert to sift through. If you are on a flat fee contract with them you’ll quickly burn out your specialist, and if you are on an hourly contract you’ll quickly rack up a significant expense. In order to help the medical expert sift through the documents and prioritize their effort it is a best practice to prepare a focused set of records. This enables the expert to zone in on the relevant records, as this is the standard of practice we should set forth in obtaining an expert review.
5 Close with a conversation
Too often, the conclusion of this important process is reduced to a short written report. This is a missed opportunity for the best insights and the best efficacy around improving the care situation. While the official written statement is an important element, pairing that with a live call between the medical expert and the requesting party leads to much deeper insight and an opportunity to further understand the context in which the review was handled.
Finding the right medical expert for a case review, the modern way
While it helps to have clear visibility into the process of finding the best medical expert for a legal case review, it can still end up being a long and arduous process to go through this process separately for each and every claim. “I am thrilled to have been able to bring top experts from every specialty into the Medplace network so that the heavy lifting of a case review goes away. Now, it’s both fast and easy to get top medical experts,” says Adrienne, “Ultimately, the goal is to reduce the amount of time that both the patients and practitioners involved in a case have to wait before finding resolution, so it means a lot to me that we help our customers quickly access excellent specialists.”
Learn more about how you can simplify your case reviews with Medplace, request a demo now.
