Can You Make Your Medical Records Better? Turns Out You Can

In an injury or accident case, your medical records are the crucial evidence that tells a jury what happened to you, and how injured that you really are. That’s why it’s important to have good medical records.

But here’s the problem: you can’t just “get good medical records.” You don’t create the medical records, your medical providers do, and they create them based on what you tell your doctors hurts or is wrong with you. So can you really do things to get good records, or to make your medical records better?

Instead of thinking of this in terms of getting good medical records, it is better to think more in terms of how you can get records that truly tell the story of how injured that you are. And there are things that you can do—and things you shouldn’t do—that can help you.

Be Thorough and Complete

One thing that many people do when they see a doctor for treatment, is they don’t tell the full story of how injured they really are to their doctor. There are a number of reasons why patients and victims may do this.

One reason is simply trying to sound tough or resilient. Nobody wants to sound like a “complainer.” So, you either don’t tell your doctor something that hurts or that is bothering you, or else you may minimize the pain that you are feeling or the disability that you are experiencing.

This is a mistake. The doctor’s office is not the place to minimize or worse, omit things that hurt or that aren’t working properly.

Another reason why people don’t tell their doctor things about their health after an accident, is that they believe that the specific doctor they are seeing may not treat what is bothering them. And this is to some extent true; your shoulder surgeon often won’t treat your depression or your back pain or scarring from a laceration. But that doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t mention it to them.

When doctors ask what bothers you, or what hurts, you should tell them everything—not just the things that you think are in their medical specialty. And even if it’s true that what you are telling them, is something they can’t treat you for.

Be Specific

Many of us, when talking to the doctor about what hurts after an accident, are simply not specific.

Victims may say something “hurts” or that they “cant move” a part of their body. But it is best to be as specific as possible—tell the doctor whether the pain is an ache or a sharp stab, whether the pain is only when you move a limb or all the time, or whether the pain is during the day or night.

Specificity not only helps the doctor make the proper diagnosis, and helps you get better, but also creates records that are as specific as possible.

Contact the Tampa personal injury lawyers Barbas, Nunez, Sanders, Butler & Hovsepian and schedule a consultation today for help after your accident.

Sources:

consumerreports.org/health-information-technology/how-to-take-control-of-your-medical-record/

bestcare.org/news/medical-records-101-what-have-help-your-doctor-and-yourself