Medical Treatment for Workers Compensation
Medical Care After a Workplace Injury
Under Indiana workers’ comp law, the employer directs all medical care if an employee is injured on the job. The choice of doctor is the employer’s; if the employee refuses to see the doctor selected by the employer, workers’ compensation benefits, such as weekly temporary total disability payments, may be terminated. If you have been injured at work, contact our law firm to discuss obtaining proper medical treatment.
Injured workers need an advocate
Our lawyers at the Carmel, Indiana law firm of Wagner Reese & Crossen know that employers and their work comp insurance carriers often worry more about the cost of treatment rather than the benefit of treatment to the employee. As a result, medical care after an injury may be cursory or inadequate. There is often pressure on the doctor to return injured workers to work before recovery is complete or the employee has reached maximum medical improvement (MMI). In many cases, the work comp insurer sends a nurse case manager to attend the injured worker’s doctor appointments. This “nurse” often acts more like a claims adjuster, pushing the doctor to release the injured employee to return to work and minimize any Permanent Partial Impairment.
How we help with medical treatment after a workplace injury
Our lawyers know how to get injured workers the medical treatment they need and deserve after a workplace injury. We also make sure they receive reimbursement for costs such as mileage to and from doctors’ appointments and reimbursement for prescriptions. We make sure that if the employee feels more medical treatment is needed after he or she is released to work, the independent medical exam allowed by the Indiana workers’ comp statute is provided in a timely fashion. We guard against the workers’ comp adjuster changing doctors in order to obtain a less expensive outcome. We make sure that insurance company nurses do not interfere with the doctor-patient relationship. We also make sure that injured worker receives full temporary total disability (TTD) payments and the correct permanent partial impairment (PPI) award. In many cases, we help the injured worker obtain a second opinion regarding the PPI rating because work comp doctors often assign too low a rating.
Contact leading workers’ compensation lawyers
It is important to discuss your medical treatment with a knowledgeable lawyer, especially if you feel you have been rushed back to work and need more medical treatment. Our attorneys have been handling workers’ comp claims since 1997. We are among the leading workers’ compensation lawyers in Indiana, and regularly hold seminars for other attorneys in this area. We also handle third party injury claims arising from the negligence of another who is not the employer. Wagner Reese & Crossen is one of only a few law firms who can handle both your work comp claim and your third party claim. Contact our Carmel, Indiana, law firm toll-free at 888-676-1598.
