Your Workers' Compensation Claim Rests Heavily On Your Medical Documents
Posted on: 27 July 2021
In a workers' compensation case, your medical evidence is crucial. You will need to prove that you're injured and that your injuries are the result of an incident that occurred at work. Fortunately, workers' compensation lawyers are experienced with working directly with physicians when handling workers' compensation cases.
What to Say to Your Doctor
During your first trip to the doctor, you will need to fully describe your injury and the circumstances that lead to your injury. For example, you will not want to simply say that you fell and hurt your back.
Instead, you will want to explain the full scenario, such as you were carrying packages down a flight of stairs and tripped and fell down the stairs. A doctor can easily make a mistake and it's important to make it clear how and where you became injured because your doctor will not have witnessed the incident.
Prior Medical Records
The workers' compensation insurance provider might want you to provide them with past medical records. This is in order to make sure that you do not have a pre-existing condition. The workers' compensation insurance provider will want to reduce or deny your claim if they are able to determine that you had a pre-existing condition unless you can prove that your injuries aggravated this condition.
Your doctor will write a note and the contents of the note will be based on how injured you are. For example, your doctor might claim that, as a result of the injury, you are not able to work at all. Or, your doctor might claim that you are only able to perform light-duty work.
No Work Vs. Light Duty Work
If your doctor instructs you not to work, you will be compensated for your lost wages and your employer will not be allowed to force you to work. However, if you are told to only perform light-duty work, you will only be compensated if your injuries force you to take reduced hours or impacts your income in some other way.
You will only receive compensation and be allowed to stay home from work if it is put into writing. Otherwise, the workers' compensation insurance provider will do everything possible to avoid compensating you. With the help of a workers' compensation attorney, you will be able to make sure that your injuries are reflected in the medical documents so you can receive the compensation you deserve and will be able to avoid being forced to return to work when you're not ready. Contact a workers' compensation attorney for more information.
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