1. To INCREASE YOUR PROFITABILITY!
Certified Legal Nurse Consultants are detail oriented and charge an hourly rate far below the physician expert.  While you will need a medical expert eventually in many cases, the CLNC can save you time and money by performing many of the services you may be having the MD expert handle now.  A nurse knows how to look at every part of the record and he or she has done more medical record documentation than any other member of the healthcare team, in most cases.

2. To FIND WHAT IS MISSING from the medical record.
Quality of care reviews often hinge on what is NOT in the record, either a missing document or a missing key physician or nurse's progress note that only a trained health care professional is likely to know is missing.  A nurse can spot what is missing from a record because of his or her years of experience in reviewing all parts of the medical record.

3. Nurses understand the CARE PROCESS.
Nursing school teaches nurses the standard nursing process, which includes 5 major steps: ASSESS, DIAGNOSE, PLAN, IMPLEMENT, and EVALUATE.  The assessment phase is done to gather information on many aspects of the patient, including physical, mental and medication history, living arrangements, discharge needs, nutritional issues, and a head-to-toe physical assessment.  Once that is completed, a list of problems (diagnoses) is made, a plan is developed and implemented and later evaluated.  This nursing care plan must integrate with the physician's orders and plan, as well as the care provided by others, such as the physical therapist or social worker.  There is a lot of opportunity for breakdown in coordination and communication and for mistakes to be made.  A CLNC's experience in using this care process will help find problems in the records that others miss.

4. To identify possible TAMPERING.
Because we understand the process of care, we also know what the timeline looks like for a hospital stay.  So it is easier to uncover potential tampering because something is just not fitting in the way we know it should.

5. To assist with finding the best EXPERTS.
A CLNC who has screened a medical related case can assist an attorney in determining whether he will need an internist or whether because of the opinion being sought, he should seek a rheumatologist, or other sub-specialist.  Does the case require a Radiologist with general practice or one who does interventional procedures, or is a "Neuro-Radiologist"?  Technology today demands highly skilled practitioners, and depending on the circumstances, that skill may be what is needed to win the case.

6. To sort through the REGULATORY ISSUES of a case.
For the last few years, Medicare has started paying hospitals more when they document that they provided certain care to patients with one of several conditions.  These requirements are based on scientific evidence that indicates that when this care is provided, outcomes improve.  However, as soon as a requirement is enacted, the experts start debating and the standards change.  Further, Joint Commission, the primary accreditor of hospitals and most long term care facilities and home care agencies, changes their requirements at least ANNUALLY, or more frequently.  Health care is one of the most regulated industries and it takes someone from healthcare to know where to look for relevant regulatory concerns.

7. To assist with issues related to the ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORD (EMR).
The electronic medical record will undoubtedly improve some documentation, making it easier to read than the doctor's chicken scratch.  However, development of this technology is not without its problems.  It has made nursing documentation more cumbersome and nurses are very good at creating work-around solutions.  The result is missing documentation that can be critical.  In addition, CPOE (Computer Physician Order Entry) moves the responsibility of entering orders from the nurse and unit secretary to the physician, increasing the chance for error significantly.  Most hospitals and other healthcare providers are on the learning side of this endeavor.  A CLNC with expertise in EMR and CPOE will help when the records in a healthcare setting are electronic and the printed version given to you does not make sense.

8. To utilize information on the DNU (Do Not Use) LIST to an attorney's advantage.
The DNU List is a set of abbreviations that should NOT be used in medical record documentation because they cause medical errors that result in patient harm.  For example, MSO4 and MgSO4 have been confused and this has resulted in patients who were supposed to get Magnesium Sulfate get a powerful narcotic pain medication instead.  An astute CLNC incorporates this into his or her comprehensive review to make sure all potential medical errors are known to the attorney.

9. To assist with HANDWRITING issues.
When a nurse is reviewing a record and encounters handwriting she cannot decipher, she does one of two things:  She either takes it to someone who knows that person's handwriting, or to someone familiar with the terminology in that type of care.  A CLNC with vast knowledge in all types of cases will be able to help decipher those cases with handwriting challenges. 

10. NURSES KNOW PEOPLE!
Knowledge of medical terminology is not healthcare specific, it is specialty specific. An abbreviation used by one specialty may mean something completely different in another specialty.  Nurses use the expertise of their colleagues to assist with abbreviations, or with deciphering handwriting when a term or abbreviation is used with which they are not familiar.  They also talk to colleagues about standard of care questions and get feedback on the question of actions of the "reasonably prudent person".