#6 MISTAKE: Your patient’s chart notes look the same as all your other chart notes

QUESTION: How do you keep your credibility from being called into question when it comes to keeping your patient’s chart notes?

ANSWER: Your patient’s chart notes that look the same as all your other chart notes in their file is one of the biggest mistakes you can happen in your patient’s personal injury claim. When chart noting, make sure that your notes don’t look overly similar. Think about how they’re going to viewed by someone who knows nothing about chart notes.

Your patient’s chart notes that look the same as all your other chart notes in their file is the sixth biggest mistake that can happen in your patient’s personal injury claim.

As we’ve covered in other posts, your credibility is critical. One way your credibility can be called into question is to have chart notes that are to similar. We know that even though chart notes are actually different, visually they can look the same or too similar — which becomes a problem.

Programs that make chart noting easier can be a blessing and a curse. They do allow you to be more efficient — but it can come at the expense of maintaining your credibility — and that’s a problem. My concern is not what an insurance company thinks about your chart notes. I’m concerned about what a jury thinks. As a personal injury attorney, when I look at chart notes that look too similar, it makes me think twice about filing a lawsuit. Part of evaluating a claim is examining how they’re going to appear to a jury? It helps to visualize your chart notes being looked at by somebody who knows nothing about chart notes — think about how they are going to view them.

When chart noting, make sure that your notes don’t look overly similar because it’s going to come back to haunt you down the line. If it doesn’t haunt you, it is going to haunt your patient when an attorney is evaluating their claim.