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.