What is a Standard of Care and Why is it Important?
In order for your Tennessee medical malpractice claim to be valid, you must be able to show that during the course of your treatment, a health care provider deviated from the generally accepted practices and procedures (that other health care providers in your local area would use to treat patients who suffer from the same condition that you were being treated for). These generally accepted practices are referred to as the standard of care, the standard against which the actions of the defendant health care provider who you believe to have caused your harm will be judged.
The standard of care which should be applied to any given patient depends not only upon their geographic location and the condition for which they are being treated, but also upon their age, medical history, and a number of other factors. Establishing the standard of care in a Tennessee medical malpractice case is a matter which requires specialized knowledge. That is why the Tennessee Medical Malpractice Act (T.C.A. § 29-26-115(a)) requires medical malpractice plaintiffs to provide proof of the standard of care in their cases by presenting the testimony of a competent expert witness.
The Tennessee Medical Malpractice Act also specifies criteria which an individual must meet in order to be qualified as an expert witness who is competent to provide testimony on the standard of care which should be applied in a medical malpractice case. The criteria are strict, and state that in order to be deemed competent to testify on the issue of standard of care, a health care professional must have been licensed in Tennessee or a contiguous bordering state to practice a specialty which is relevant to the case at hand during the year before the date of the alleged incident of medical malpractice.
Standards of care are defined on a very, very local level. Tennessee courts have invalidated testimony which referred to a national standard of care, and have rejected testimony about regional and state-wide standards of practice. The law is very specific, requiring that the standard of care must be established for the community in which the defendant health care professional practices.
Establishing the proper standard of care is a crucial first step in obtaining a successful recovery in a Tennessee medical malpractice case. Once the standard of care in your case has been established through the testimony of a competent expert witness, you must then be able to show that the health care provider who treated you breached that standard of care. You must also be able to show that the health care provider’s breach of the applicable standard of care caused the harm that you suffered.
The standard of care is an essential element of your medical malpractice case. If you have been injured as the result of a health care provider’s negligence, it is important that you enlist the aid of knowledgeable and experienced counsel who can locate the expert witnesses that you need to establish the appropriate standard of care. The skilled Tennessee medical malpractice attorneys at Greer Injury Lawyers, PLLC will evaluate your case, answer all of your questions, and sit down with you to help you determine the best way to proceed. We believe that health care professionals must be held responsible for the harm that they cause the patients who have entrusted them with their care and treatment. Please call our office today, at (888) 470-9143 to schedule a time to discuss your case. At Greer Injury Lawyers, PLLC, we are small enough to care, big enough to fight, and experienced enough to win.