You should start visiting a doctor as soon as you get an injury in the workplace. The degree of your employment injury will determine how long you must see a doctor. Usually, when a doctor releases you to return to work, your workers’ compensation stops. Therefore, you may have to be under a doctor’s observation for the whole period of injury.
Should your accident be minor or simple, you might be able to resume work and stop seeing the doctor sooner than should your injury be severe or cause issues.
Discover more about the relationship between visiting a doctor and receiving workers’ compensation with the assistance of a Virginia Beach workers’ compensation lawyer by keeping on reading.
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When to See a Doctor
After a work injury, ideally you should visit a doctor right away.
Two important timescales to consider are:
- Seeing a doctor within 24 hours produces a record of your injury and facilitates early treatment. This guarantees you receive treatment before issues aggravate and helps bolster future injury claims.
- Within 48 hours—Many states mandate that you notify your company of a work injury. Seeing a doctor right away facilitates documenting the incident’s timing.
- Same day: See emergency treatment immediately for major injuries causing great pain, immobilization, or other acute problems. An ambulance could carry you or a coworker to an ER or urgent care center.
- Next planned shift: See a doctor before your next planned work shift if pain or other symptoms first seem modest but get worse. Worsening problems could call for time off from work and treatment to enable appropriate healing.
In essence, the better, the faster you can visit a doctor following an injury. Based on degree of injuries, job responsibilities, and doctor availability, try to go either the same day or within 24 hours. Most states let you formally document an occurrence up to 48 hours.
Why Is Timely Medical Treatment Important?
For several reasons, seeking medical assistance right after a work injury is essential.
- Guarantees your welfare and general state of health.
- It improves your workers’ compensation claim
- It documents your injury formally.
Certain injuries, especially those involving soft tissue or repeated trauma, could not show right away. As soon as you start having symptoms, days or even weeks after an event at work, you should contact a doctor.
Delaying medical treatment can not only aggravate your illness but also provide insurance companies cause to doubt the degree or work-relatedness of your injury. Your health and your rewards are too great to ignore another day.
Seeing Your Own Doctor vs Company Doctor
Usually, after notifying your company of your injuries, you have options about where to get treatment. Options could consist:
- Your personal main care physician or specialist
- An occupational health clinic
- A doctor your company or their insurance provider deals with or sends you to
If your personal doctor already knows your medical background, seeing them can help to simplify coordination of treatment. Some company-referred doctors, meanwhile, might be more knowledgeable about treating workplace injuries.
Many states have rules allowing you to start the first visit with a doctor recommended by your company. If you feel uneasy about the recommended doctor’s treatment, you can later on ask to change to your personal doctor or specialist.
Conclusion
Clarify with your company’s workers’ compensation insurance whether visits to your pre-selected doctor or if you have to see someone in their network would be covered before your appointment. Get evidence from every doctor visit to bolster your claim.