Dumpster Diving Difficulties
I couldn’t believe what I heard. “The records you just threw away? They are the only copy that exists.”
The defense attorney hired my LNC company to create summaries and other work products for a case involving multidistrict litigation. The plaintiffs alleged their back injuries were due to defective pedicle plates and screws. Over 100 cases in paper form came to my LNC office. When I accepted the project, I hired subcontractors – as many as 60 of them. Some were aspiring LNCs who’d never done a case before.
As my team of LNC employees reviewed the work product turned in by the subcontractors, it soon became apparent that not every nurse who wanted to be an LNC had the skills to be an LNC. Some could not follow directions; some could not proofread; some spent WAY too much time on the assignment; and some were not detail-oriented enough.
One woman (I will call her Paula) received a big box of records to organize and to create a timeline, chronology, summary, list of missing records and list of exhibits. Paula couldn’t get past the first step. In a strange coincidence, the plaintiff entered the same hospital a year apart to the day on February 1st. Paula’s set of records was intertwined, and it was her job to organize them into separate admissions. Not being detail-oriented enough, Paula mixed the 2 admissions together.
When we called to find out why Paula was getting close to the deadline and had not sent us her reports, she first tried to lie about when the records reached her. We knew the date and time those records arrived at her house. (Thank you, Fed Ex.) Then she said the assignment was too difficult.
When Paula returned the thoroughly jumbled records, the law firm’s paralegal gave me permission to discard them. (This was before HIPAA.) He promised to send me a new set.
The First Trip to the Dumpster
Did I wait until the end of the day or week to discard the records? Oh no, I gathered them and walked down the block to the dumpster by our office, and tossed them in.
Two hours later, the paralegal called me back to tell me I had the only set of records; the law firm had not retained a copy. I had a sinking feeling when I realized what I had to do next.
The Return Trip to the Dumpster
I approached the dumpster with caution. You see, one dark night, when I lifted the lid to throw out bags of trash, a shrieking dark furry shape came barreling out of the dumpster. I screamed, it screamed. It took seconds to realize it was a cat trapped in the dumpster and long minutes for my heart rate to return to normal.
Using the footstool I took with me, I climbed into the dumpster to collect the loose paper I’d thrown in hours before. Fortunately, the offices in our area did not dump unbagged food garbage into the dumpster. Instead, I had to stand on bags of office waste. Think of trying to balance on a beach ball while bending down to collect the medical records.
The dumpster was emptied once a week on Thursday. And it was Thursday afternoon that I climbed into the dumpster. I could hear trucks on the highway, and prayed I could get out of the dumpster in time. How would I explain my presence in the dumpster?
I finished the work before the garbage truck came roaring in 15 minutes later.
Lessons Learned
What did I learn from this?
- Not all subcontractors can do the work. There is a critical need for competence and attention to detail.
- It is essential to take responsibility for your actions. My initial decision to discard the records was hasty, and that led to a potentially disastrous outcome.
- It is crucial to pause, assess the situation thoroughly, and consider possible consequences before acting.
- And never climb into a perfectly good dumpster.
Pat Iyer is president of The Pat Iyer Group, which develops resources to assist LNCs in obtaining more clients, making more money, and achieving their business goals and dreams.
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