Friday, August 27, 2010

Obtaining Medical Records after a Motorcycle Accident Personal Injury for Negotiation with the Insurance Company


After any kind of accident or injury involving either a lawsuit or insurance company, you will need copies of your medical records. Medical records help establish the facts of the case and are one of the basic metrics used to determine damages or compensation from a Denver motorcycle injury.

In our adversarial legal system, people and companies usually will not pay unless they have to, regardless of fault. So the first thing that medical records do is establish that an injury or condition was caused by the car accident. If you do not have a Denver personal injury lawyer, unscrupulous insurance adjusters may try and claim that your injuries were pre-existing. As the claimant, you do have the burden to prove your case against any attacks.

Of course you may also need to know how to access and distribute your records if your injury requires the attention of a specialist.

Outside of motorcycle injuries, medical malpractice suits usually revolve around medical records, which may mean the doctor is loath to give them up. However you do have the right to access all of your records because of a piece of legislation called the Federal Health Information Portability and Accountability Act. Generally, the act states that you have access to your own records, or someone else's if you are their representative or guardian. Executors of estates also have access to the deceased party's records. You also may ask for the records if you are related to the deceased and their disease history may shed light on your own problems.

There are a few exceptions to the records you are allowed to access. Usually these are not important for your Denver injury lawyer unless your case is related to psychotherapy or could endanger you. The law requires the medical provider to give you records within 30 days, or give a written reason for delays. Of course some state laws give patients more rights. Colorado injury patient laws are a little stricter. If you need the records and the hospital will not release them, you may need to hire a lawyer. This usually only happens when there is a pending medical malpractice lawsuit.

The doctor or hospital is allowed to charge you a reasonable fee for the records, and sometimes the records are not complete if they consist of several different specialists. You may have to file requests to each doctor to get your full medical history. It is always best to have as complete a medical history as possible before going to court as a car accident victim.

3 comments:

  1. I was so happy that I read this interesting post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is one of the most important things that a victim should have. It is the thing that will tell everything. If you have a good lawyer he knows what to do and what are the things needed.

    injury lawyer Chicago

    ReplyDelete




  3. Thank you. I just wanted to know where to ship it since I know now to keep producing it


    Serious Bike Accident Compensation

    ReplyDelete