When you are injured in a Worker's Compensation accident you are entitled to have medical treatment provided to you at your employer expense.
However prior to being able to attain the treatment there are several steps with much taken place first. Initially you must advise your employer of a work-related injury immediately. This means you must tell your supervisor what happened and you also must identify any eyewitnesses to the accident. Many individuals who were injured at work result in the police and ambulance arriving and emergency medical attention. Those are different circumstances because the accident will be professionally documented. However for the injuries that are not as significant that Warren immediate emergent attention there must be adequate documentation so the employer cannot "wiggle "out of providing that mandatory medical treatment and temporary disability benefits coverage.
Once the actual accident is documented and you demand medical treatment the employer is obligated to provide same. However it will most often be at the employers direction at and provided at a "occupational health center". They are a primary care medical provider center for Worker's Compensation cases. If that injury requires a referral to a specialist such as an orthopedist and or pain management specialist the referral will be made from the occupational medical center.
During the course of any and all treatment you will not be required to pay any co-pays and or deductible. The entire cost of the medical treatment, objective testing, and prescription is covered by the Worker's Compensation statute.
Unfortunately you are not able to decide which doctor you want to go to and whether or not you like the position that you are sent to. The employer has the right to direct the employee to the medical provider of their choice. Most often these are doctors that have agreed to participate in either the insurance company provider plans or some type of HMO that the insurance company participate in.
If however, during the course of your treatment you are in need of additional care that is not being provided such as referrals to additional specialist, this is when you need to have an attorney on your side that you can communicate with on a regular basis to navigate this very sophisticated and complicated statutory scheme. My office handles cases from beginning to end and helps you manage and govern the medical treatment that you are provided. It is my opinion that many of the doctors provide the minimum amount of care in order to keep the costs to the insurance company down to insure additional referrals from the insurance company.
When you call our office and tell us of additional issues related to your medical care we actively help you secure the additional medical treatment by having you see other medical professionals to provide a second opinion. If the second opinion suggest or recommend the medical necessity of additional care we will file the appropriate applications with the court to secure you the full and complete care you require.
If you are in the middle of a Worker's Compensation case and your attorney is not taking the steps at that time and you believe you need additional medical treatment please reach out to our office so we can assist you getting you the medical treatment and care you believe you need.