The National Institute of Justice has a useful Research in
Brief entitled, “Documenting Domestic Violence: How
Health Care Providers Can Help Victims.”
The 6-page document explains how and why physicians should
document domestic violence in patients’ medical records.
The summary statement upon which the Brief expands is: “Health
care providers can improve recordkeeping in a number of ways,
such as by documenting factual information rather than making
conclusory or summary statements; photographing the injuries;
noting the patient’s demeanor; clearly indicating the
patient’s statements as her own; avoiding terms that
imply doubt about the patient’s reliability; refraining
from using legal terms; recording the time of day the patient
was examined; and writing legibly.”
A version of this
article first appeared in the National Center on Elder Abuse
Newsletter, funded by the U.S. Administration on Aging, Vol.
4, No. 3-4, October/November 2001.
“Documenting
Domestic Violence: How Health Care Providers Can Help Victims”
