No one goes to work with the intention of getting injured, but workplace incidents happen quite frequently regardless. Millions of people are injured at work every year. On the other side of these injuries? Time spent at home recovering and a huge pile of medical bills.
Employers are required to have worker’s compensation insurance that is aligned with their worker’s compensation codes in order to protect workers in the event of this kind of injury. This insurance ensures workers don’t have to deal with the fallout of a work injury on their own.
However, getting compensation through insurance means having to visit a worker’s comp doctor. How can you find a medical professional who will give you quality service and have it covered by the insurance company? Read on and we’ll walk you through what you need to know.
1. Lookup Local Laws
Worker’s compensation laws vary from state to state.
The way things work in Florida won’t be the same as they work in Alabama, for example. So before you start looking for a ‘workers comp doctors near me‘ it might be worth taking the time to familiarize yourself with local laws.
Some states, such as New York and Texas, allow employees to pick their own health care provider. They are given a long list of state-approved medical professionals and can visit anyone from the list.
In this instance, the easiest way to find a doctor is to look to those sanctioned by the state.
However, in other states, employees have less of a say in the matter. There are some states where the employer gets to pick the doctor out and an employee must see that medical professional for their treatment.
Determining what the laws are in your state will help you determine how you should approach your search.
2. Interview Potential Hires
Even if you’re given a list of medical professionals you can pick between, you’ll want to find the doctor who can best treat whatever injury you’ve been faced with.
As such, it’s important that you get on the phone and interview some of the doctors you think would be a good fit. First and foremost, you should seek to learn about their experience with former patients that had injuries like yours.
You should also, when on the phone, make 100% sure that they will accept the worker’s compensation payment schedule. If a doctor seems like they are not certain how worker’s compensation generally works, they might not be the right professional to handle your case.
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3. In an Emergency
If you’ve been in a workplace accident that one might consider an emergency, throw out the above advice. In an emergency situation, a worker is allowed to go anywhere for medical care.
There’s no need to look at a list of approved medical providers. You need to get in and get the help you need right away.
Once the situation is no longer critical, you’ll likely need to transfer to a doctor who is covered by your employer’s insurance.
Finding a Worker’s Comp Doctor
Finding a worker’s comp doctor can be difficult but it doesn’t have to be impossible. If you take the above advice into account, you should be able to find the medical help you need with no problem. Need more advice for the workplace? Keep scrolling our blog for more.
