The Importance of a Medical Chronology for Medical Malpractice Cases

Written By:
Paulette Campbell RN-BC, BSN, MJ
Certified Legal Nurse Consultant

A medical chronology can serve a multitude of purposes for your cases. First, it can provide you with a streamlined look at the medical chart. It can bring key issues to the forefront and also uncover previously unnoticed facts. The best use of a medical chronology can provide you with the ability to look at the medical facts in a fluid manner. You want a medical chronology that will allow you to be able to parse out key facts while keeping a keen view on the bigger picture. Well constructed medical chronologies provide you with such options.

A practical example of how a well-developed medical chronology can be invaluable is, if you have a case that involves an alleged incorrectly administered medication. It can be helpful to identify the nurses’ and physicians’ notes to look at how often the patient was assessed, and what was the response of the person who first noted the issue at hand. It can also be helpful to identify potential chart cover-ups by looking for signs of inconsistent behavior patterns and when they took place. A more detailed example would be: a care provider is claiming that they did not give extra attention to a patient at the time in question (using this argument to indicate that they did not suspect anything was going wrong). Often times, you can look at the medical chart to see if that same care provider was involved in the patients care before. Look for their regular care patterns. Did they check-in on the patient before in the same manner that they did at the time in question. This is also helpful for times when defending a care provider, to demonstrate that their care is not only consistent but also meets or exceeds guidelines.

Another very effective way to use a medical chronology is to use it to line up vital signs and lab results with action taken. It can be very useful in instances where a patient has declined over a long period of time, and action was not taken. If a patient is showing a steady decline and there is no back up in action, a medical chronology can bring those facts to light in a very compelling manner.

Medical chronologies are also very helpful in medical malpractice defense arguments. They can help tell your client’s story which may not be very clear from narrative notes. This is effective when needing to specifically delineate your client’s actions from another healthcare professional. Often times their narrative notes may not directly spell out their concerns (due to their fear of retaliation) but there are clues in their documentation that provide proof that they raised concerns. A look at interventions taken or narrative notes can provide such insights.

Our medical chronologies services are made to meet case specific needs. A cookie-cutter approach to chronologies prevents this tool from serving its purpose. Contact us today to find out how our medical legal consulting firm can provide your practice with medical chronologies that will meet your various case specific needs. You can reach us at info@medicaljurisprudence.com or at 630-551-0978.