Most physicians are trained to deal with structure and physiology and not function and disability.*
-Joseph J. Chen, MD
Taken from an article concerning functional capacity evaluation, Dr. Chen’s statement touches on an overarching difficulty we face as disability or personal injury attorneys: proving the severity of clients’ conditions with evidence — medical records — that is by its nature intended for other purposes. It’s like trying to open a can with a screwdriver. You can do it — after all, structure and physiology are certainly related to function and disability — but it’s a hell of a lot of work and the results are unpredictable and likely to be messy.
Even if you haven’t been practicing long, you don’t need Dr. Chen to tell you that medical records make for less than ideal evidence when trying to prove the severity of a client’s condition. Let’s leave aside for now the many challenges medical records present: repeatedly pasted forward notes, providers’ bias toward progress and improvement, statements by your chronically ill client that he’s “fine” or “ok.” I’m sure you have your own list of greatest hits but we know all too well that medical records seldom capture the information we need to document clients’ impaired functioning. Dr. Chen’s statement just explains why that is.
I developed ClaimData because I was frustrated by this persistent gap between structure/physiology and function/disability. ClaimData prompts clients to report their impaired functioning on a daily basis. The software then summarizes their responses in concise visual reports. Medical providers are grateful for this additional information and insight which is outside their proper area of expertise and yet so critical to a disability determination or damage calculation. ClaimData’s summary report makes it far easier for providers to connect a client’s clinical condition to their functional capacity.
So stop trying to open cans with a knife! Start using ClaimData with one of your clients today and see the power of this new evidence.
I created ClaimData to help attorneys like myself and the clients we have the privilege to represent. If you can think of any way that ClaimData can better help you do this important work, please get in touch. Thank you for representing the sick and injured.
________
Chen JJ. Functional capacity evaluation & disability. Iowa Orthop J. 2007;27:121-7.