Even with what we hear on a daily basis about jurors’ unrealistic expectations for medical caregivers, there are still times when even we are surprised by the extent to which the public’s perceptions of healthcare are divorced from reality.
Case in point – the continuing belief there exists an omniscient, nationwide medical record system that allows caregivers to pull up a patient’s complete medical history with the click of a button. In a recent survey we conducted of jury-eligible people, 56 percent said they believe there is a system in place that “allows hospitals to access all of a patient’s past medical records.” This means that more than half of the potential jurors surveyed would walk into a courtroom with a fundamental misperception about the healthcare system’s capabilities.
This perception is particularly damaging because it makes it inexcusable for a caregiver not to know some important aspect of a patient’s medical record, an issue that comes up often in cases where a patient fails to provide an accurate and complete history. “The patient didn’t tell us” is no longer a sufficient excuse.
Case in point – the continuing belief there exists an omniscient, nationwide medical record system that allows caregivers to pull up a patient’s complete medical history with the click of a button. In a recent survey we conducted of jury-eligible people, 56 percent said they believe there is a system in place that “allows hospitals to access all of a patient’s past medical records.” This means that more than half of the potential jurors surveyed would walk into a courtroom with a fundamental misperception about the healthcare system’s capabilities.
This perception is particularly damaging because it makes it inexcusable for a caregiver not to know some important aspect of a patient’s medical record, an issue that comes up often in cases where a patient fails to provide an accurate and complete history. “The patient didn’t tell us” is no longer a sufficient excuse.
Perhaps this particular misperception shouldn’t be so surprising. In the age of instant information, people expect nearly all information to be perfectly and instantly accessible – especially information held by industries as supposedly sophisticated as the American healthcare system. Moreover, every time people visit a doctor’s office they see nurses entering information into a computer, so it’s not unreasonable to believe it might be going into some vast database.
As always, it’s up to you to challenge and overcome the misperception that complete medical histories are instantly accessible. In this case, a little education can go a long way:
- Ask potential jurors during voir dire if they believe there is a national database allowing caregivers to retrieve a patient’s complete medical history. Use this opportunity to educate them that although such a system has been discussed for years as part of healthcare reform, it does not exist in any hospital and will not for the foreseeable future.
- Jurors often confuse electronic medical records (EMR) with a nationwide database. Educate them that EMR system information is available only within that hospital. Hospital X cannot retrieve information about a heart attack a patient had years earlier at Hospital Y.
- Educate jurors that because there is no such system, patients’ honesty and forthrightness is extremely important. If caregivers aren’t told about an important aspect of a patient’s medical history, they have no way of learning that information.
- Jurors understand that patients often lie or conceal aspects of their medical history, especially when it comes to lifestyle issues such as drinking, smoking, drug use or sexual behavior. During voir dire, poll the panel on how often they believe patients are less than truthful.
If you have a case involving an aspect of the medical history caregivers weren’t aware of, we’d love to help you find a winning strategy. Contact Senior Vice President Claire Luna at 714.754.1010 or cluna@juryimpact.net to find out how we can help.
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