Would you be surprised to learn that your workers’ compensation doctor is being pressured by your employer and their insurance company to minimize the severity of your work injury?
Most of us have been raised to believe that doctors have one goal – to make you better. But in the workers’ compensation world this is often not the case.
Because the insurance company is paying the bill for your treatment, they are entitled to receive copies of your medical records and in workers’ compensation cases, you can be sure that the adjuster assigned to your case will be reading every record.
Although your doctor will never tell you this, he/she will regularly get calls and emails from insurance adjusters pressuring your doctor to change how the doctor’s reports are worded.
- Did you have a prior injury to your back or body part that you recently hurt at work? The insurance company will pressure the doctor to say that your current injury may not be entirely related to your recent accident?
- Do you play softball, soccer or some other sport? The insurance company will pressure the doctor to relate your current injury to your recreational physical activity.
- Does your doctor ask you about grocery shopping, or cooking or housework? The insurance company wants the doctor to say that you are having no problems with activities of daily living?
- Was physical therapy so painful that you had to stop? The insurance company wants the doctor to say that you were not cooperative and refused to participate in necessary treatment.
Many insurance adjustors believe that every injured worker is faking or exaggerating their injuries so they feel no guilt about trying to manipulate the medical records in your case to avoid paying for tests like MRIs or CT scans. They also feel no guilt about trying to manipulate you into accepting a low ball settlement by including irrelevant issues in settlement negotiations.
Make no mistake – when you file a workers’ compensation case, you are going to war and you should not be surprised by anything that the insurance company throws at you.
The post Will Your Doctor Cave In to Pressure from the Insurance Company to Minimize Your Work Injury? appeared first on Georgia Workers Compensation blog.
