Hospital Records as Evidence

Court decisions are not in harmony as to the admissibility of hospital charts and records as evidence in a court of law. At common law they are not recognized as valid evidence. In the absence of a statute requiring hospitals to keep clinical charts or records, many courts adopt the view that such a chart or record is admissible as evidence only under some exception to the Hearsay Rule and after a proper foundation has been laid for bringing the case within the particular exception. If such a foundation is laid, a hospital chart or record is, according to the majority view, competent evidence as to all matters proper for inclusion in a record of this character.