“What IS a Legal Nurse Consultant??”

Ideally, a Legal Nurse Consultant (LNC) is an experienced Nurse who has undertaken training to look at medical records from a legal point of view, addressing issues such as causation and damages within the legal theme of the case. Testing is often required to ensure competence. An experienced Legal Nurse Consultant has the expertise to analyze medical records from any type of case that deals with illness or injury, and translate terminology; elaborate and explain between the lines; correlate seemingly unrelated pieces of information and organize a stack of complicated, nearly illegible information into a logical, concise, easy-to-understand (and easy-to-teach to a jury) chronology or narrative.

A LNC can take your case from CHAOS to CLARITY!

An experienced Nurse can identify what is missing, versus only assessing what is there. She can anticipate the unwritten orders or protocols that can be implied from a single order such as blood or heparin administration, and she knows where to check to make sure that these have been followed. She can read between the lines of complex medical terminology, understands the implications involved, and is able to assess responses (or the lack of a response where she knows one was indicated). A Legal Nurse Consultant has knowledge of medications and interactions, as well as indications versus contraindications of specific medications, depending on the situation. A Nurse also has experience in dealing with the national accrediting organizations and the compliance that they require.

A knee-high stack of medical records can be daunting to one not used to the terminology, the medical shorthand, or the interactions between hospital departments. This can result in understandable, maybe even unconscious procrastination. A Nurse daily dives into charts and gathers concise, pertinent information with which to determine the best care plan for her patient-and she does this quickly. THESE are the types of experiences and skills that you need to free up your legal staff to work on other cases, thereby working through ALL cases more quickly, more thoroughly and with an improved level of success, both for you and for your clients. We are sure that the person reviewing your medical records has done a good job for you thus far...BUT…

We ask you to consider that the difference between using a non medical professional for medical related cases versus using a NURSE with years of clinical experience and insider healthcare provider insight, can mean the difference between a "good" settlement and a GREAT settlement!

There is simply NO comparison in the qualities of outcomes when you have a Legal Nurse Consultant and a Paralegal do what they do best, respectively.

"My Paralegal reviews the medical charts, why would I need a Legal Nurse Consultant?"

Paralegal's play a vital role in assisting Attorneys and their importance is not to be minimized; however, a Paralegal does NOT have the medical training, clinical experience, or the insider's knowledge on the inner workings of a hospital that a Legal Nurse Consultant can bring to you.

"Then why would I want to hire a nurse, when I could have a doctor ?"

Physicians are the experts on medical procedural practices and are required to assess whether one was done properly. They in turn require a very large fee (often $500 to over $1500 an hour, depending on the specialty involved), making the Legal Nurse Consultant a far more cost effective alternative for the remainder of the medical research and assessment that you need.

"Why would I want to contract

a Legal Nurse Consultant

Versus

employing a nurse in my office?"

Oftentimes, Nurses employed in Attorney's offices complain that they get bogged down in on-the-side legal work, and then don't feel that they have enough time to delve into the medical aspects of a case as deeply as they would like to do. These distractions mean that vital points may be overlooked, and can result in fewer wins and/or lower gains for you. Many Attorneys employing this option as a way to save money could be paying a much higher overall cost than they had initially considered.

Hiring an Independent Contractor does usually mean a higher hourly fee, but it is more cost effective in the long run. As a contracted Consultant, we provide all of our own equipment, supplies, utilities, office space, health insurance, medical journal and organization fees, license fees, transportation costs, etc.

There are no benefits, sick days, vacation days, holidays for you to provide.

Also, consider that the complacency that can develop in an office. As a firm employee, your pay is guaranteed. However, an outside Contractor maintains a "hungry edge"! She must work harder to make sure that all of her Clients are satisfied, and to stay on top by always striving to give that "extra mile" to impress her Clients and keep cases coming in. Since your livelihood directly affects hers, she will work harder on providing excellent service to make sure that YOU are successful. That is the only way that She will succeed.

As a contracted service, you only pay for our services when you need us; therefore, we are conveniently at your call, but not in your way.

Physicians are also known for being very focused--which may make that person an excellent physician--but a lousy chart reviewer. How many times have you been in a Doctor's office and mentioned a complaint that that Physician could easily address, only to be referred to another Physician (orthopaedist, cardiologist, family doctor)? They tend to stay strictly within their own specialty areas, and this has been a frequent complaint from Attorneys who give an entire chart to a Physician for review.

A Legal Nurse Consultant, on the other hand, is used to scanning the entire chart to put together a complete picture. A Nurse is usually the one who updates the Physician on new developments, as she must keep track of ALL disciplines in order to be an effective patient advocate. A chart given over to a Legal Nurse Consultant will be assessed and cross-referenced in its entirety. This type of thoroughness is what you need to figure out what really happened, and to make your case a winner.

And it is available at a fraction of what a Physician would charge!