It’s always possible that your doctor might make changes to your medical records once he finds out that you’re bring a case against him.

Changes to the medical records to cover up a mistake are called a “CYA” or Cover Your Ass. A Cover Your Ass notation in the medical records usually blames you for failing to follow the doctor’s advice.

Let’s say you go to your doctor’s office for severe pressure in your chest that occurs at rest. The doctor sends you home with indigestion and three days later, you have a massive heart attack. Once the doctor gets word that you’re considering a lawsuit, he might add a Cover Your Ass notation in the medical records, such as “Told the patient to go immediately to the ER.” The doctor tries to focus the blame on you for failing to follow his advice to go to the ER.

But there’s good news. Most hospitals today have electronic medical records and it’s possible to determine when every entry was made in the electronic medical records by date, time and person. If Dr. Jones changed your medical records two days after your heart attack, our forensic computer examiner should be able to prove when the CYA notation was added to the hospital chart and by whom.

The hospital will have an “audit trail” that will show the date of every change that was made to the electronic medical record. With electronic medical records, it’s easier than ever to catch a doctor when he tries to cover his ass by changing the medical records.

Do you have questions? You can get our free ebook, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, just by providing your name and email address at the home page of www.protectingpatientrights.com. We promise your information won’t be shared with third persons. And if you’d like to speak with me about your case, I welcome your phone call at 1-866-889-6882. I look forward to speaking with you.