Medical records are legal documents that can be used as legal evidence in court

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Medical Records as Evidence is required reading for every lawyer who handles medical malpractice and personal injury cases. It is the definitive guide to the law and strategy governing the most critical source of proof in malpractice and personal injury litigation—medical records. In a style accessible to any reader, Jost and Lampley explore in great depth virtually every aspect of litigation related to medical-record evidence. They have made time-consuming Westlaw and Lexis searches a thing of the past.

The medical record is the central piece of evidence in medicine-related litigation. This is true for claims involving allegations of medical malpractice, professional ethics breaches, or billing fraud. The medical record—and electronically stored information related to it—must be preserved, collected, and produced while respecting confidentiality and privacy concerns. Medical record confidentiality became a federal mandate with the passage of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) in 1996. New laws, such as The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (“HITECH”), and the shift toward electronic records affect the content and maintenance of the medical record. This manual looks at the intersection of federal and state law on the creation, preservation, production, and, ultimately, admissibility of the medical record in a legal proceeding. This book is all you need.

Features:

•   Essential reading for any hospital risk manager, compliance officer, in-house counsel or attorney involved with the acquisition or litigation over medical care or medical records.
•    Addresses evidentiary issues pertaining to the medical record that will arise before litigation, during discovery, and at trial.
•    One of the first major treatises to analyze legal issues with the creation and preservation of electronic medical records
•    Analyzes the legal duties involved with maintaining the medical record under the newly promulgated Code of Medical Ethics
•    Provides an in-depth treatment of the relevance of Joint Commission standards to the standard of care
•    Provides a detailed overview of specific cases dealing with spoliation of medical records
•     Delves into the compliance requirements of Medicare's Conditions of Participation as it relates to the medical record, and the relevance of accrediting organizations to that analysis. 
•    A “go-to” resource for legal issues pertaining to evidentiary issues related to the medical record that may arise in any trial ·

Ramona L. Lampley is a Professor of Law at St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas.  She teaches civil procedure, e-discovery, evidence, sales, secured transactions, and commercial paper.  Professor Lampley has been published in the Washington Law Review, BYU Law Review, Cornell’s Journal of Law and Public Policy, and in Essentials of E-discovery. She is also a contributing author of Federal Evidence Tactics.

Prior to joining the faculty at St. Mary’s School of Law, she practiced civil litigation at Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell LLP in Denver, Colorado.  There she handled a variety of large cases involving medical malpractice, commercial contract disputes, and class actions.  She was recognized as one of Denver, Colorado’s “Forty under 40” rising professionals in 2012 and as one of Colorado Super Lawyer’s Rising Stars in 2012.  

LaMar  F. Jost is a trial lawyer and Partner with the Denver law firm Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP.  He has devoted the first decade of his career to successfully trying cases in federal and state courts across the country. Mr. Jost is licensed to practice in Colorado, the District of Columbia, Illinois, New Mexico, Wyoming, and in the Shoshone/Arapahoe Tribal Court. He is admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court, along with several other federal appellate and district courts.

Because of his extensive trial work in practice areas ranging from medical malpractice to environmental and commercial law, Mr. Jost has been selected as a “Rising Star” by Colorado Super Lawyers for seven years running, was recognized as a top defense lawyer in Colorado, and was named to the Denver Business Journal’s 2016 “Forty under 40” list, which selects its top business professionals in Colorado from a wide range of professions. LaMar Jost has authored several book chapters on topics related to civil practice. He has lectured extensively on damages in civil actions.

This treatise belongs on every Compliance and Risk Officer's bookshelf. Although we are well versed in the statutes and regulations that guide our care, we know little to nothing about how the court views them when litigation is involved. This is a must-have resource.

-- Rebecca K. Keller, RN, BSN, Compliance Officer Pathways Hospice and Palliative Care

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