tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339779352011-04-21T11:32:41.202-07:00Deana Kilmer, RNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05879476433041971843noreply@blogger.comBlogger21100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33977935.post-1157582728729482952006-09-06T15:44:00.000-07:002006-09-06T15:46:01.260-07:00Legal Nurse Consultant (LNC): The edge in identifying patient safety and quality standards<br /><br />Medical errors are one of the Nation’s leading causes of death and injury according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimates that as many as 44,000-98,000 people die in U.S. hospitals each year as the result of medical errors (Institute of Medicine, 2000) This equates to more people dying from medical errors than from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS (Institute of Medicine, 2000). Medical errors could occur with the most routine of tasks such as ordering the wrong meal for a patient. Errors also occur due to the complexities of our healthcare system or voids in communications. Medication-related errors for hospitalized patients cost roughly $2 billion annually. (Institute of Medicine, 2000) The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) is committed to improving safety for patients and their mission is to continuously improve safety and quality of care. A Legal Nurse Consultant (LNC) has a critical role in assisting attorneys with personal injury and medical malpractice cases. LNC’s have the experience and know-how in identifying standards of care in clinical practice as set by JCAHO and other accrediting organizations. JCAHO regulates healthcare institutions and mandates patient safety standards to improve safety and reduce medical and healthcare errors that result in harm to patients. A near miss is an event that signals a weakness in the delivery of healthcare services. One role of the LNC is to identify breaches in near-miss management programs that are essential to patient safety. A sentinel event is any unanticipated or unusual event in a healthcare setting which results in death or serious physical injury to a person or persons. Sentinel events are usually linked to a number of near misses. JCAHO and other regulatory organizations require sentinel event processes and reporting in order to reduce the small mistakes that lead to large events.<br /><br />JCAHO’s 2006 National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG’s) is one way they are promoting specific improvements in patient safety. One NPSG is to “Improve the accuracy of patient identification.” This requires the use of at least two patient identifiers whenever administering medications or blood products; taking blood samples and other specimens for clinical testing, or providing any other treatments or procedures. Because nurses assess and evaluate patient care on a daily basis, LNC’s are the experts in patient safety and quality care standards. Personal injury and medical malpractice attorneys will find the knowledge and expertise of nurses useful to identify breaches and deviations in standards such as NPSG’s. LNC’s are able to identify system failures and individual cupability. It is the health care systems responsibility to provide structures and processes aimed at preventing errors, catching errors before they reach the patient, or minimizing the harm when errors occur. LNC’s are able to comb through a medical record to determine if and when an error occurred, and where in the chain of events the process faulted. A LNC provides the edge needed to assist attorneys in identifying patient safety and quality issues.<br /><br />DMK Consulting &amp; Associates, Inc. has the medical/nursing experience to navigate through your next stack of medical records. Visit <a href="http://www.dmkconsulting.us/">http://www.dmkconsulting.us/</a> to learn more.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/33977935-115758272872948295?l=legal-nurse.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Deana Kilmer, RNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05879476433041971843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33977935.post-1157582620317206242006-09-06T15:40:00.000-07:002006-09-06T15:43:40.330-07:00Medical Legal Consulting Services<br /><br />DMK Consulting & Associates, Inc. was founded with the mission to provide high quality, risk-free medical and nursing related consulting services to attorney’s, insurance companies and other healthcare institutions.<br /><br />We believe in a high level of professionalism and excellence in all aspects of our work.<br /><br />We recognize how valuable time is and we want to remove the burden by offering nursing expertise to our clients in preparation of medical-related cases.<br /><br />We provide cost-effective services that will enhance your work load by allowing the healthcare professionals to focus on health related issues while attorney’s and paralegals are able to focus on the legal issues.<br /><br />We: Bring Nursing Excellence Into Your Firm or Institution<br />Relieve the Burden of Medical-Legal Research & Medical Case Preparation<br />Simplify Case Preparation with Experience and Professionalism<br /><br />What DMK Consulting & Associates, Inc. Does…As Registered Nurses, we are trained to continuously analyze patient care &amp; medical documentation therefore we provide healthcare expertise and litigation support for attorneys, insurance companies & other healthcare institutions<br /><br />We provide case preparation for medical malpractice, personal injury, product liability and other cases related to healthcare or nursing<br /><br />We attend, observe, and provide reports for Independent Medical Examinations (IME’s)<br /><br />We hold positions in professional organizations that set nursing and healthcare standards of care allowing the benefit of first-hand experience with active healthcare professionals<br /><br />DMK Consulting & Associates, Inc. takes pride in excellence, therefore we provide high quality, risk-free, services to our clients<br /><br />What a Legal Nurse Consultant (LNC) Does…<br />Systematically define and identify deviations in standards of care<br />Summarize, translate and interpret medical recordsAssist in other areas of the discovery process including preparation of interrogatories & deposition support<br />Analyze medical records to determine injuries, pre-existing conditions, and issues related to the case at hand<br />Conduct medical literature searches to strengthen merit of medical-related cases<br /><br />How do we do this…<br />We develop medical chronologies to identify case issues, document facts, and outline key players in the case<br />We develop unbiased medical summaries to outline medical care and history of events<br />We utilize CaseMap® software to assist in case preparation, organize cases, develop timelines, and identify relationships from the medical information at hand<br />We serve as observers at IME’s, report findings, and testify if applicable<br /><br />How we benefit our clients…<br />Cost savings & time savings which allow attorney’s and paralegal’s to spend time on the legal aspects of cases<br />Simplify case preparation by allowing qualified nurses to summarize allegations; identify facts & issues; and identify potential testifying experts to strengthen medical cases<br />Relieve the burden of medical-legal research<br />We stay clinically active, therefore we stay abreast on the current healthcare trends, treatments, and standards of care<br /><br />Visit <a href="http://www.dmkconsulting.us/">www.dmkconsulting.us</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/33977935-115758262031720624?l=legal-nurse.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Deana Kilmer, RNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05879476433041971843noreply@blogger.com0