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DOCTOR DANGER SIGNS

Doctor Danger Signs

What you should do if your employer sends you to their doctor after you claim an on the job accident injury"

If you are injured on the job and your employer sends you to a doctor of their choosing, you don't have to accept everything that Doctor says or does. You must pay close attention to what the doctor is doing or not doing and what they are saying or not saying. It is always a good idea to take someone you know and trust with you to these appointments and two sets of eyes and ears can be on the alert for these Danger Signs:

1. If the doctor insists that you allow a nurse case manager to attend your appointment with the doctor, you should be aware that anything you say or do will go back to you employer and their insurance company. It is a bad idea most of the time to allow these nurse case managers to spy on your case in this manner and you have every right to have a private appointment with the doctor and have in the room whomever you want. When the doctor insists, you should cooperate in the appointment but immediately afterwards seek to change you doctor because they are not looking out after your medical interest and they are probably only doing what the insurance company wants them to do.

2. Be sure the doctor you are seeing is qualified to treat you. If you have an orthopedic problem (bone or joint injury) you probably need to see an orthopedist, neurosurgeon or a physiatrist not a family medicine doctor. Ask the doctor or nurse what the doctor's specialty is and what they are "board certified" in. If your doctor doesn't have a specialty or isn't board certified in the area of medicine that fits your problem that is a danger sign that tells you that you need a new qualified doctor.

3. If your medical problem is to the soft tissue of the body like muscles or ligaments or tendons or disks and the injury is not resolving itself within a short period of time, you may have some serious damage. Be sure and ask the doctor or perform all of the possible diagnostic tests they can to pinpoint what is wrong with the soft tissue. Many doctors will scrimp on diagnostic test because they can be expensive and the insurance company has told them to try to not over do any tests. However, scrimping on medical care by not doing timely medical test can cost you in lost time from work and may result in you not physically recovering completely. If a doctor refuses to do a test without good reason and can't give you a solid diagnosis as to what your injury is, you need to consider getting another doctor to treat you and your bests interests which is to get well sooner than later, not save insurance dollars.

4. If your doctor plans on doing surgery on you under general anesthesia but they plan on returning you to work a day after surgery, you've got a problem doctor. If you are forced to go back to work too soon after surgery because the insurance company doesn't want to pay you disability benefits and the doctor is agreeing with that, you may end up with more serious injuries than you began with. Be sure anytime you are operated on that you get a clear understanding from the doctor about how long you are going to be off work recuperating from the surgery and if your doctor is not reasonable about that time, you need to get another surgeon before you have the surgery.

5. When your company doctor argues with you about things you say and do and is not friendly in their demeanor towards you, you may want to consider getting another doctor. Company doctors do not have the right to be rude and insensitive to you so if it gets to a point where they are treating you right and not answering all of your reasonable questions, get another doctor assigned to your case. You deserve the professional courtesy that people normally receive from their family doctor. Don't accept the rudeness and bad behavior.

6. If the company doctor says that they don't believe your side of the story or that you are faking or malingering, you need to get to another doctor as soon as possible. Do not wait to request another doctor or it could be too late.

Getting another doctor when you see any of these danger signs usually involves putting in a written request for a change of doctors with the insurance company and seeing if you can agree with a new name. If you don't know the doctors in your community well and you aren't familiar with this change of doctor procedure in workers compensation, it is probably best that you hire a workers compensation lawyer who is very familiar with the doctors and the procedures. Hiring a workers compensation lawyer is done by signing a contract that say they don't get paid until you get paid and they only get a percentage of 25% . As a matter of fact, the most important thing a workers compensation lawyer can do for you is get you the most appropriate treatment for your injuries and keep you away from the doctors with these danger signs.


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