Medical bills or itemized statements are associated with care rendered to an individual by a physician, hospital or group practice for a specific illness or condition. These amounts relate to hospital admissions, office visits, therapy or surgeries. Additional costs may be incurred for rehabilitation, injections, prescription medication or orthopedic appliances. In personal injury or workers’ compensation matters, medical expenses are tied to an actual event, e.g., motor vehicle accident, slip and fall or injury in the course of employment. In addition to proving damages, medical bills contain an abundance of other valuable information which may be particularly helpful to the legal team in the litigation of a case.

The task of requesting, organizing and summarizing medical records is regularly handled by a paralegal. However, a paralegal should also be cognizant of the importance of issuing separate requests (perhaps even to other entities) for the release of invoices. Medical billing is often handled by outside vendors (sometimes out-of-state) on behalf of a health care provider.  Inquiries should include the full name of the patient, date of birth, dates of service, as well as account numbers or medical record numbers. Note that if a client was treated in an emergency room or admitted to a hospital, there could be multiple physicians from whom you will need to obtain records. These encompass independent charges for services such as consultations, review of diagnostic studies, etc.

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