DEFENSE

The best medical malpractice defense is good documentation

Good documentation is the foundation for the best medical malpractice defense, but there are many ways that documentation can fall short. David Badie, New Jersey-based partner at Hall Booth Smith, discussed with the Journal of Healthcare Risk Management the importance of healthcare documentation.

I always tell providers that their documentation is the one opportunity they have to tell their story, he said. It’s the one chance they have to share the details of their encounters with patients when the details are still fresh in their minds.

Do it right away, he said. Often, providers are extremely busy and leave documentation to the end of a shift. Certainly, patient care takes precedence over paperwork, but concurrent documentation is the best way to protect yourself.

With over 15,000 skilled nursing facilities and close to 29,000 assisted living communities in the U.S., efficient management of medical information must be emphasized in containing costs in long-term care claims and litigation.

The average case backlog for state and local courts increased over 30% during the pandemic.  There are estimates that damages could increase 20-30% based on these delays.  To “catch up” on the docket, case preparation may be rushed and hectic.

Working with a partner who has developed cost-effective protocols in medical record retrieval and analysis allows counsel to focus their time on the high-level legal aspects of each matter.  Excelas’ deliverables take the burden off counsel and support decision-making in several key areas:

LEGAL

For-profit nursing home providers targeted in final House COVID report

Five of the largest for-profit nursing home providers are being targeted over low staffing and slow vaccine booster administration by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis

The report made no nursing home-specific recommendations but did release updated data from five major nursing home corporations to highlight staffing and wage struggles in the sector.

SENIOR LIVING

The top 3 emerging risks in senior living in 2023

The global COVID-19 pandemic challenged senior living and long-term care owners and operators to manage health, financial and operational risks at a scale the industry has never before experienced.

Marsh’s Senior Living & LTC Industry Practice lists climate change, cyber threats, and emerging litigation as three emerging risks for long-term care owners and operators.

Senior living and long-term care owners and operators who want to control their risks and insurance costs in 2023 should remain vigilant on risk management discipline and litigation management.

METRICS

Excelas performance metrics through December 31, 2022

As of December 31st, 2022 Excelas, LLC provided customized solutions to 374 Clients/Firms! We have reviewed 13,905 Records/Cases, which amount to 18,063,336 Pages..

We also continue to invest in our proprietary, secure, and interactive #software, Zaxas. The investment to date has been 8,701 hours/ $1,039,972.

UPDATED SINCE LAST NEWSLETTER

Excelas’ PREP Act Updates list summaries of relevant articles and selected court decisions, as well as additional recent court decisions, with hyperlinks for reference. We are continually updating cases as information becomes available. If you have insights to share, we welcome your contribution, with credit. The attached update is the most recent, including listings through December 2022.