Workplace injuries happen so infrequently at most jobs that many workers and their employers aren’t completely sure of the steps that they need to take when accidents happen.
One detail that employers and their employees may be unclear about is the medical professional they’re supposed to see if an incident occurs. Illinois law requires employers to provide their workers with a list of paneled doctors that they can see. It may be necessary to see one who’s not on the panel
You may wonder how to choose a physician. There are a few different attributes that you should aim for them to have.
Choose a doctor with workers’ comp experience
There’s a lot of paperwork that doctors must complete as part of the workers’ compensation process. Filling it in can be time-consuming if a medical professional hasn’t done it before. A physician may not want to treat you or bill you for their time once they see what they have to do.
It’s important to be upfront with the doctor that this is a workers’ compensation case and get a feel for their experience in handling such matters before seeing them. You run the risk of them not providing accompanying evidence of your injury and your claim’s denial if you don’t.
Ensure that the doctor you select treats injuries like yours
Any doctor you see should be comfortable in treating injuries like yours. They should be able to develop a treatment plan that will ensure maximum recovery and be good at deciding if it’s too soon for you to return to work.
Steps that you should take following a workplace injury
One of the biggest mistakes workers make after suffering an injury in a workplace accident is not immediately reporting it to their employer and having doctors assess them. Not taking these steps can affect the outcome of your workers’ compensation case.