LNCtips.com: Expert Preferences Form

When I first became a legal nurse consultant, I only worked with a few experts.  Now I work with hundreds of them.  When I first became an LNC, it was easy to keep track of expert preferences for communication and medical records delivery.  Now there are electronic options in addition to the traditional ones.  If you work with experts, I have a form to easily determine different expert preferences.  

For those of you who hire experts, this form, which was developed by one of my secretaries, works well.  We send this form to all the experts that we work with.  The form identifies the expert's preference to receive medical records in hard copy or electronic format.  You may need to modify the form, depending on your circumstances.  For example, the law firm that employs me is happy to send hard copies of medical records.  However, some law firms only send records in electronic format because it's more cost effective.  I have found that more and more experts prefer to receive the records in electronic format, particularly on CDs or USB flash drives.

The form also identifies the preferred method of communication for experts.  I used to spend a great deal of time playing "telephone tag" with experts as we left messages for each other on our office voice mails.  Now, it seems that many experts prefer that we contact them by email.  With the advent of smart phones, the experts can review the email immediately on their cell phones without engaging in a conversation.

The contact form also has an area for the expert's address.  Some experts prefer to have records sent to their home addresses; other experts want medical records sent to their work addresses.  We also include a section for contact information for the expert's assistant.  We often find that sending requests to the assistant expedites the execution of conflicts checks, telephone conferences, and business associate agreements.

Using this form has simplified my work with experts.  Instead of unsuccessfully trying to get in touch with them, I can now focus on the important aspects of their work - their expert opinions.

...Katy Jones