By Ben Thayer, Co-Founder & Co-Owner · 3 min read

Who this is for: Written for law firm partners, paralegals and case managers who want to understand how Braintree works with firms, and the limits it keeps.

Key takeaways

  • Onboarding starts with a 15-minute briefing for attorneys, paralegals and case managers together.
  • Law firms cannot order testing. A client's treating provider decides whether testing is clinically appropriate.
  • Reports are clinical and impartial. Normal findings are reported as clearly as abnormal ones.
  • Reports are released through authorized medical records processes.
  • Braintree offers nothing of value for referrals and promises no outcome.

Step one: the briefing

A short briefing walks your team through how testing works, what is measured, how reports are structured and how clients reach testing through their treating provider. Attorneys, paralegals and case managers can attend together. Afterward your team receives plain-language materials to use when clients ask questions.

Keeping clinical decisions with providers is what keeps the record medical rather than legal.

Step two: identify the client's treating providers

An open journal with a pen resting on a blank page
A simple daily symptom log gives the treating provider a clear trend.

Testing is arranged only when a client's treating provider decides it is clinically appropriate. If a client has no provider, the right step is to establish care. Firms cannot send lists of clients to be tested, and we do not accept requests that bypass the provider.

Step three: records through proper channels

Once a provider has referred and the client has been tested, the report goes to a neurologist for interpretation, and that provider then receives a copy. Your firm requests it the same way it requests any medical record, through an authorized release.

Related in this series: Attorney Briefing: 15-Minute Overview, Attorney Resource Center and FAQ for Personal Injury Attorneys. For the full overview, start with our guide, Attorney Guide to TBI Documentation.

What reports contain, and what they leave out

Reports describe what was measured and the neurologist's clinical interpretation. They do not offer opinions on causation, admissibility or the value of a claim. For legal questions, firms should consult their own experts.

Reports can't be shaped to fit a legal position, and that is precisely what makes them worth reading.

Case managers as an early warning system

Physician in a white coat speaking with a patient
A neurologist interprets the report; the treating provider then receives a copy.

Case managers often talk with clients more than anyone else. Make sure your team can recognize a client in trouble. If a client mentions thoughts of self-harm, give them the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and encourage immediate help.

Compliance in practice

Our policies keep clinical decisions independent of legal ones. Firms help by applying the same principle in how they talk with clients about medical care: encourage prompt care and honest symptom reporting, and leave testing decisions to providers.

What your intake team should do in an emergency

If a client on the phone describes a worsening headache, repeated vomiting, a seizure, slurred speech, unusual drowsiness or confusion, tell them to call 911 or go to the ER immediately.

Frequently asked questions

Can we send a list of clients to be tested?

No. Testing decisions are made by each client's treating provider.

Can we get status updates on a client's testing?

Status questions should go through the client and their provider, or through authorized records channels.

Do you work with firms statewide?

We work with providers in our mobile service areas, coordinated from our Tampa Bay base. Clients outside those areas should talk with their providers about other options.

We diagnose. You treat.

Fully mobile across Florida: we test at the patient's home, at any of 40+ service locations across Florida, or at your office. Mobile, physician-reviewed concussion and TBI diagnostics for Florida providers and their accident patients. Reports go to a neurologist ahead of the neuro evaluation; the referring provider then receives a copy for advanced imaging and treatment recommendations.

Book a 15-minute callRefer a patient

Or call 813-709-3771

Sources

This article is educational and is not medical or legal advice. If this is a medical emergency, call 911.