What a urgent care review usually focuses on

Triage, referral, discharge, and missed diagnosis. A case review should reconstruct the sequence of scope of evaluation, testing available, red flags, referral/transfer, and return precautions from the records available at each decision point.

Five decision points to map

  • 1. Scope of evaluation
  • 2. Testing available
  • 3. Red flags
  • 4. Referral/transfer
  • 5. Return precautions

Records that can answer those questions

  • Urgent Care consultation, procedure, or encounter notes
  • Orders and test results used to make the clinical decision
  • Medication, monitoring, procedure, or nursing records tied to the event
  • Communication with the patient and other specialties
  • Later treatment showing the complication, corrected diagnosis, or outcome

Expert and causation questions

  • What training and specialty should the reviewing urgent care expert have under state law?
  • Which of the key decision points in triage, referral, discharge, and missed diagnosis is actually being challenged?
  • What information was available at that time, not only in hindsight?
  • What part of the later harm is attributable to the underlying illness or known risk?
  • Would a different medical decision probably have changed treatment or outcome?

Related specialties

Gynecology Malpractice GuideProcedure, diagnosis, infection, and consent questions.Primary Care Malpractice GuideDiagnosis, referral, medication, and follow-up.Critical Care Malpractice GuideIcu monitoring, infection, ventilation, and escalation.Radiology Malpractice GuideImaging interpretation and communication.

Use licensing, records, and medical-information sources appropriate to the specialty.