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 Chapter
1. Intake forms
Dr. Croft reviews the various intake forms necessary in a personal injury practice.
This section details the essentials of clinical notation for effective and comprehensive medicolegal case management, including reasonable shortcuts and alternatives, such as computer-based systems. Clear and concise note taking is fundamental to effective clinical management and provides objective documentation in those cases which require forensic examination or reporting. Dr. Croft highlights the proven best practices.
This section covers the questions of when to schedule exams, what kind of detail is necessary, and when and how to prepare supplemental reports.
This is the chief subject of this Module and Dr. Croft will take you from A to Z through the process, outlining the crucial components of the comprehensive narrative (i.e., final) report while providing a detailed rationale for all of it. Preparation of this document is a critical skill that is not often taught in any detail in medical or chiropractic schools. In litigated cases, the treating physician must provide detailed technical and chronological information in a format understandable to other professionals and lay persons who rely on this information to make determinations about cause of injury, liability, the importance of pre-existing medical conditions, disability, the need for future heath care expenditures, and special damages such as pain and suffering. The physician, thus, becomes a vital link in this chain such that without an unambiguous and objective report, these determinations are often poorly grounded or even erroneous. Most physicians today are in need of guidance in report preparation and attendees benefit from Dr. Croft’s many years in clinical and forensic practice. And, while many providers dismiss the narrative report as nothing more than make-work and tedium, a well constructed report can benefit all parties involved—including the practitioner. In litigated cases, legal representatives on both sides of the issue need to understand the various medical facts of the case in order to proceed intelligently. Physicians who communicate effectively in their reports are likely to be sought after in the future to help settle other disputed cases. Dr. Croft will teach attendees how to construct the consummate narrative report. We often receive enthusiastic letters from graduates telling us how they were complimented by attorneys on the clarity and completeness of their reports.
In this section, Dr. Croft explains how to import graphics—such as charts, diagrams, and radiographs—into your narrative report. These images greatly enhance the understanding and effectiveness of your report.
The Revised Oswestry, Roland-Morris, and Neck Disability Index are the subjects of this section. Dr. Croft will explain how to implement them, how to score them, how to interpret them, and how to integrate them in your narrative report, when appropriate.
Dr. Croft will discuss the many issues, obligations, ethics, and difficulties surrounding IMEs. He’ll provide attendees with tools to appropriately rebut unreasonable opposing expert opinions.
Each year about 3 million persons are injured in CAD and related trauma in the U.S. Many receive either no formal treatment or misguided and inadequate treatment. Consequently, between 35% and 50% of them develop long-term symptoms; about 14% will become disabled, and the incidence of these injuries is growing each year. If a larger proportion of these victims could be treated by practitioners who specialize in treating these injuries, these doleful statistics would certainly improve. For example, three recent studies have demonstrated the clear effectiveness of chiropractic care in groups of chronic spinal pain sufferers. In this final section, Dr. Croft discusses avenues of practice development with an eye toward reducing the current public health burden and reducing overall and long-term health care costs.
Spine Research Institute of San Diego, Inc. Voice: (619) 423-9867 or (619) 423-5475 |
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Critical
documentation from day 1; What every personal injury and
forensic expert needs to know
Coronado, CA 92118
| Copyright © 2007 Spine Research Institute of San Diego. |