Primary Care
Primary Care
For trial attorneys who take medical malpractice cases, it is essential to understand the full scope of potential claims in the outpatient primary care setting. All too often, patients suffer from missed diagnosis, misdiagnosis, or delayed diagnosis of serious medical conditions such as cancer or heart attacks, when prompt diagnosis would have resulted in a better outcome.
Providers in the outpatient setting are also liable for incorrect medication or dosages prescribed, lack of informed consent prior to a medical procedure, failure to order necessary diagnostic tests, and inadequate referrals to specialists when appropriate—all of which can have severe repercussions for a patient’s health and well-being. Certainly, delays in treating medical emergencies, and allowing unqualified assistants to perform medically-sensitive procedures can all be indicative of medical malpractice or negligence.
It’s important to put your finger on the pulse of the medical malpractice claim; bringing in a Nurse Practitioner expert specializing in decision-making analysis in the medical field can help piece together any inconsistencies between the accepted standards of care and what actually occurred. A dedicated Nurse Practitioner review of medical records can make all the difference to provide vital observations and opinions as evidence.
The outpatient setting is not interchangeable with the inpatient setting. As opposed to the average nurse consultant, whose career has generally been spent in the intense inpatient setting, Nurse Practitioners are providers, and are held to the standards of care that physicians also have to abide by in that setting. All family Nurse Practitioners have training and education in those standards of care. Nurse Practitioners come much more affordable than your average physician consultant, however, because they don’t necessarily own their own practice or have as high of an opportunity cost for their time. With a Nurse Practitioner you can get a provider-level analysis at RN rates.
LISA DIEKMAN
DNP, FNP-C, NRP, NP-CLP
Dr. Lisa Diekman is a nationally Board certified Nurse Practitioner with a focus on family and internal medicine with over 15 years of clinical experience. After working as a paramedic, Lisa worked as an RN in trauma and the emergency department, and even as flight nurse. Lisa maintains certifications in many areas of these specialties. As an NP, Lisa has clinical experience as an internal medicine hospitalist, and in aesthetics and occupational health. Select this ConsultantTamara Broadhead
Dr. Tamara Broadhead has a doctor of nursing practice (DNP) degree from Idaho State University with licensing as a nurse practitioner and board certifications in family practice (2017) and a post graduate certification in psychiatric advanced practice nursing from Rocky Mountain University (2019). She has a diverse background with 20 years of experience in health care, first as an office manager and administrator for medical offices and then as an RN with a background in adult acute care, chronic pain management, pediatric and adult home health, medical-surgical, orthopedics, and urgent and emergent care.
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