Medical records may be used in a surprisingly wide range of civil and criminal cases. These records have obvious relation to cases involving medical malpractice, personal or work-related injuries, wrongful death, public health, disability claims or insurance claims. Medical records may also be relevant to less obvious types of cases, including divorce proceedings, custody disputes, even some business transactions. Any case that involves the human body in some way or calls mental capacities into question will likely require medical evidence—so any legal case could potentially include a medical component.
Admissibility
Medical records maintained as part of the regular course of business for hospitals or medical practices are admissible as evidence in legal cases. Because they are considered business records, they are excepted from legal regulations against hearsay evidence. However, challenges against medical records as hearsay are still possible, depending on the specific type of evidence in question.
In addition, rules of evidence vary between jurisdictions, so courts may have broad leeway to determine whether or not evidence is admissible. In general, medical records must either be submitted as originals or as certified copies of the originals, and they must be released in accordance with privacy statutes such as HIPAA. By using a records retrieval service such as The Records Company as part of your litigation support, you ensure your copies are certified originals obtained in compliance with all state and federal regulations, which improves their chances of being admitted as evidence.
Preparation
After obtaining medical records for use in a legal proceeding, they must be reviewed for complete information. Medical records include a lot of information, such as physician’s notes, medications and prescriptions, consultations with specialists, discharges, surgical records, x-rays, and autopsy reports. They don’t necessarily include every piece of information you may need, though. Some specific information, such as specialized lab reports, incident reports, psychiatric information, staff logs, and hospital information, among many others are not included in standard medical records as a matter of course. These specialized materials may require a separate request.
When you submit a request at The Records Company, your request is assigned to a case manager who oversees your request from processing to delivery. You already know this personal attention can save you time, but because records retrieval is what we do, our experts often spot additional materials you may need for your case that aren’t included in standard medical records, allowing you to get the most complete information available, providing superior service to you and your clients.