How gaps in medical treatment affect your injury claim

If you’ve been injured in an accident on the road, at work, or anywhere else, seeking medical treatment should be your priority. Beyond taking care of yourself, it will be an important part of getting compensation for your treatment from an insurance company.

“Don’t wait — insurance looks poorly on these things,” according to InsuranceMyth.com. “If you want to be covered by insurance for an injury do not wait, get treatment as soon as you feel discomfort, pain, or stiffness. Waiting to get treatment only limits your ability to have your medical expenses covered.”

Why it matters

The issue is that waiting to receive help from a doctor may make an insurance company question whether your injury came from the accident or happened at another time. If the company questions the validity of your claim, it may not cover the treatment costs.

It’s also important to keep all the documentation that’s involved throughout your treatment, including the first visit and every follow-up.

“A lack of medical documentation will hurt your bodily claim; however, understand that just one visit to the emergency room probably won’t help your claim much,” according to DMV.org. “You should consider visiting your regular doctor (or a specialist to whom your emergency room doctor or physician refers you) after your initial emergency room visit.”

Personal records

In addition to official records, it’s a good idea to document your experience with details about your pain and other symptoms as well as the costs, including hospital and ambulance bills, according to DMV.org. These records could be important to your claim, as the insurance company can see how the injury has affected your day-to-day life at work and home.

You can also share the information with your doctor to help with ongoing treatments. On that note, keep up with your appointments and treatments, and know that an insurance adjuster may ask for copies of medical records connected to the accident and even ask you to get a second opinion.

“Be prepared for the insurance company to request that you see a medical professional of its choosing,” according to DMV.org. “Whether or not this will be a request will depend on your car insurance company and the nature of your injuries.”

Injuries over time

Seeking medical attention is important not only for severe injuries but for ones that come on more slowly, such as a workplace injury. You may not notice one right away or, in a sudden accident, the extent of your injury might be unclear.

When you do notice something is off, visit your doctor and give an honest assessment of your injuries.

“Even with the advancement of medical technology, doctors still rely on patients to report symptoms, severity of pain, and activities that are difficult or impossible to perform,” according to Nolo.com. “This is especially true for soft tissue injuries; these injuries don’t involve bones and often cannot be verified through medical imaging like X-rays.”

Make sure you are clear about where your injury occurred — at work — and share details about how it’s affected you.

“Because some injuries can be more subjective in nature, it’s especially important for you to communicate with your doctor about what you’re feeling,” according to Nolo.com.

While you focus on healing, a personal injury attorney from Kitrick, McWeeney & Wells, LLC will worry about everything else, including obtaining the maximum monetary compensation available to you in your case. Contact us to set up a free consultation.