Hospital-acquired infections fall under medical malpractice claims. In any medical malpractice claim, the medical records alone can prove negligence and liability. This article analyzes the types of HAIs, liability, and how medical record review can aid attorneys.

Every year, approximately 1.7 million people contract hospital-acquired infections, and 1 million succumb to death, says the Centers for Disease Control. The CDC is the nation’s largest healthcare-related infection tracking system, which collates such injury and disease-associated data to identify the progression or reduction of HAI.

What are hospital-acquired infections (HAIs)?

Hospital-acquired infections are the diseases or infections one acquires in the 48 hours after being admitted to the hospital or within the first 30 days after receiving treatment in a healthcare facility. The common HAI infections are listed below:

• Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTI)
• Surgical Site Infections (SSI)
• Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI)
• Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (VAP)
• Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia (HAP)
• Clostridium Difficile Infections (CDI)
• Septic shock

Causes of HAIs and liability

Hospital-acquired infections can generally occur because of the unhygienic atmosphere in the facility, surgical room, or inpatient wards. It can also occur due to the use of unsterilized surgical equipment, unhygienic behavior of the healthcare providers, or the patients themselves.

Every healthcare provider has a duty to give standard care to the patient. When the patient acquires such HAI infections due to the carelessness of the healthcare workers, it can be considered a deviation from providing the standard of care to the inpatient. Breaching the duty of care and causing injury or suffering to the patient will make the healthcare professionals liable. If you could prove that these infections could have been prevented, if proper care was given, you can get a deserving compensation for your HAI infection.

Role of medical records in proving liability

Hospital-acquired infection claims come under medical malpractice. To prove a medical malpractice claim, the medical records of the patient play a pivotal role. Since each and every treatment course and health condition of the patient is recorded in the medical records, it can bolster a medical malpractice claim.

Medical record is the only solid evidence the plaintiff can lean on to prove his damages and sufferings he had undergone due to the infection. The medical records will have the date of admission, the treatments provided, and different lab results, imaging studies, biopsies, or other diagnostic reports. It will even include the name of the healthcare provider and nurses who attended the patient.

Any malpractice that occurred during the patient’s treatment period in the facility can be easily identified from the medical records. Even the person who is responsible for the patient’s suffering can be unearthed from the medical records.

How can a medical record review partner assist in proving HAI claims?

In medical malpractice claims, medical records alone can prove the liability of the healthcare providers.

A medical record review company will have experts in medical and legal fields to analyze the available medical records for evidence of medical malpractice. In any kind of hospital-acquired claim, they would analyze health condition at the time of admission, the start of the infection and its root cause, and any possible medical malpractice that could have occurred from the side of the healthcare providers.

If any symptoms present in the patient were not recorded or tampered with in the medical charts, the experts can dig out the records and point out the missing records related to the claim. Experts can get a clear idea of the diagnosis, treatment plan, treatments administered, outcomes, and future treatment plan from the medical records.

Legal people may not be able to identify the complicated medical jargon, and any trace of malpractice may escape the scrutiny of the attorneys. But a medical-legal expert in the record review company is highly experienced in unearthing even the slightest hint of malpractice.

They can handle huge volumes of medical records, identify the relevant records, and decode the illegible handwritten notes and the complex medical terminology. Any traces of negligence from the providers will be identified by comparing the medical charts from different providers.

An expert medical record review can identify if the infection could have been prevented if the providers had not deviated from providing standard care.

A deep medical record review can help the attorneys decide on the experts to be deposed, additional records to be reviewed, other missing records that should be availed, or the evidence to be collated to fortify the claim.

An experienced medical record review partner can identify the strengths and weaknesses of the HAI claim and prove the potential malpractice with evidence. Even the data related to the sanitation protocols, and any mishaps in the wound care can be identified from the records.

Even the failure in diagnosing the infection on time or delivering immediate care can be exposed from the medical records or the statements or depositions by the healthcare providers.

In some medical malpractice cases, the facilities or the providers may alter the medical records to prevent the name of the facility from being spoiled. A reviewer can identify such medical record alterations and prove the negligence and medical record tampering.

An experienced medical record review partner can assist the attorneys in bolstering the HAI-related medical malpractice claim with ease.

Conclusion

A patient’s medical records should be reviewed thoroughly to identify the instances of neglect or harm that led to the patient’s infection or suffering. If the healthcare providers’ negligence led to the damages, they should be held liable. To prove liability, the evidence of medical malpractice or negligence should be presented to the jury.

A well-experienced medical record review company, with its expert team of reviewers, can discover the inconsistencies in the medical records and identify the possible medical malpractice.

A medical malpractice attorney can rely on the medical record review services for quality reviews and the instances of medical negligence unveiled from the medical records.

If you have acquired HAI due to the negligence of the facility or provider, get the aid of an experienced medical record review service to pinpoint the malpractice.