Petting pets helps us unwind from our worries. Most Americans own at least one dog as a pet. Although the dogs are well-cared-for, the annual number of dog bite incidents is leaping in bounds.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 4.7 million people are attacked by dogs in the United States each year. Most kids suffer more dog bite injuries than adults.
The previous year had found around 18,000 dog bite injury claims filed against dog owners. What do you think can help these dog bite claims?
Yes! What you think is right! Your medical records can substantiate the injuries you have encountered in a dog bite.
How can you dig up valid evidence from your medical documents? Many experienced medical record review services can effortlessly unearth the facts that can support your claim.
Through this blog, we are going to see how efficiently can a medical record review help you bag the reparation you deserve for a dog bite.
Before moving into that, let’s see the range of injuries that can occur from a dog bite.
Dog bite injuries
Depending on the severity of the attack, the size of the person being attacked, the ferocity of the dog breed, and the situation that led to the attack, dog bite injuries may vary from minor snips to life-altering disfigurements. The most common dog bite injuries are as follows:
- Bone fractures
- Emotional distress
- Eye damage
- Face wounds
- Injuries to the head and neck
- Nerve Injury
- Puncture wounds
- Rabies
- Scars and disfigurements
Small or big, every dog bite injury can turn anyone’s life into misery. Seeking treatment soon after the dog attack would be reasonable to avoid an adverse outcome.
Factors considered while deciding the compensation
- The extent of the injuries
- If the victim’s injuries hinder him or her from functioning normally,
- Expenses for medical care
- Was the victim harmed financially by missing work
- If the victim was the one who set the dog off
Significance of medical records
Health records are essential in achieving a dog-related injury settlement. Ensure that all the details about your dog bite injury are documented in your medical records.
Even the pain levels, degree of injury, emotional trauma symptoms, detailed description of the incident, etc., recorded in the medical documents can play a pivotal role in substantiating your claim.
Usually, the homeowner’s or pet insurance subsumes dog bite injury claims. It covers dog bite legal expenses with normal liability limits of $100,000 to $300,000. If the damages exceed that amount, the dog owner is liable for any amount in excess of the liability limit.
Insurance firms try to downplay your injuries in order to reduce your demand. A well-documented medical record can prove your injuries and prevent them from being lowered.
Another reason medical documents are important in a dog attack case is the statute of limitations. Many facilities will not release medical records on time for you to proceed with your claim.
Dog’s medical records, too, can play a significant role in claiming your compensation. Many veterinarians refuse to release dog’s medical records without the owner’s written permission. This also can prevent one from producing the medical documents on time to fortify your claim.
In most of the states, you can get only around 2-3years from the dog bite incident to file the claim. You may not get enough time to ruminate over what to do after the injury.
Insurance companies have a habit of dragging their feet, and other factors could also cause your claim to be delayed for weeks or even months. Retrieve your medical records on time to elicit valid evidence from them.
The testimony of the victim’s doctor and other medical staff is regarded as credible. Furthermore, their observations must be documented in medical records that are acceptable as evidence. Thus, medical records play a vital role in proving dog bite claims.
Types of medical records that can be useful in dog bite claims are as follows:
- Ambulance records from the paramedics
- Hospital records, including examinations, consultations, nurses’ notes, test findings, operation reports, admission and discharge summaries, and more.
- Exam, treatment, and consultation notes kept by a private physician.
- In-home nursing records
- Physical therapy records
- Reconstructive procedure record, if any.
In addition to recovering medical expenses, you may be able to utilize your medical records to determine non-economic damages such as pain and suffering. You can utilize your medical records to document the degree of your pain and disability.
The ferocious dog attack can cause fear and anxiety in the minds of people, especially children. This anxiety may go after some time or last forever. These emotional variations or changes noted in the medical records will be crucial in dog bite claims. Even psychological consultation or counseling therapy plays a vital role.
How can medical record review services help in your claim?
Surfing through the stacks of medical records to discover solid evidence is not that easy. Attorneys with tight work schedule have to allocate a significant part of their time to review them. For non-medical people like personal injury attorneys, it would be annoying to peruse through complex medical terms in order to identify the evidence.
Outsourcing medical record reviews has gained significance in such contexts. The summarizing of medical records for legal purposes must be done in order to provide all relevant information in a succinct and effective manner.
An experienced medical record review service may analyze and organize all of the plaintiff’s medical records chronologically. They can properly categorize information and group it by date of doctor visit, type of procedure, tests administered, and so on.
The type of dog bite injury, its grave nature, types of infections, the nature of the cause of injury, etc., will be exactly noted by the services. This allows jurors to quickly understand the medical treatment schedule and, as a result, determine the extent of the harm and, as a result, compensation.
Sometimes, before the records can be submitted in court, Personal Health Information may be removed from the summary and/or the photos. Identifying missing medical records can be time-consuming and inconvenient for attorneys and paralegals. Outsourced medical records review providers can also handle record retrieval services efficiently.
An efficient medical record review company reviews all of the records and bills and writes a complete summary of them for acquiring additional records, if any, successfully communicating the nature and extent of the injuries to the dog owner’s insurance company and presenting the case in court if necessary.
How can medical record reviews benefit dog bite injury claims?
Medical record review services can analyze your medical records thoroughly to know all your damages like dog bite injuries, emergency care expenses, medical expenses, future medical costs, disability if any, the extent of scars and disfigurements, reconstructive surgery costs, etc., to draft an effective demand letter to the insurance providers claiming the damages.
A medical summary contains information such as the date and time of the visit, the medical care provider, the kind of administration, and the outcome of medical treatment arranged in chronological order. This makes the attorneys easily put forward their arguments before the court and make the jurors understand the course of the claim.
Another reason why a medical record summary is crucial is that it accurately reflects the timeline of hospital visits and the type of treatments undergone, which is critical in dog bite injury claim proceedings.
Even voluminous deposition transcripts are summarized in concise formats without losing the essence of the testimony. Significant witness statements are highlighted. It helps in analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the claim as well as identifying the contradicting statements given by the witnesses to impeach the invalid expert testimonies.
Medical record review can also help identify the reasonability of the treatment or medical documentation errors that can greatly impact the claims.
The severity of the injuries and the type of bite can prove if the dog breed is harmful and dangerous to the public. A review of medical records unearths such facts.
In short, a comprehensive medical record review mainly reveals the following:
- Extended Hospital Stays
- Your injuries’ severity
- Physical Therapy sessions
- Time Lost at Work
- Rehabilitation Therapy
- Scarring/Disfigurement
- Reconstructive Surgery is a possibility.
- Unpaid Medical Bills
- Permanent Impairment of Function
To wind up,
A dog bite accident can leave you with thousands of dollars in debt and long-term physical impairments that can significantly impact your way of life. It is critical to ensure that you receive justice and reparation for the injuries.
Attorneys, personal injury law firms, insurance providers, and healthcare professionals frequently need to evaluate mammoth medical records and present them as evidence in court in such dog bite claims.
Outsourcing medical record review services allow attorneys to save time and money while focusing more on the legal aspects of dog bite injury lawsuits. Medical record summarization provides an accurate and concise representation of data, assisting attorneys in constructing a winning dog bite claim.
