[fusion_dropcap boxed=”no” boxed_radius=”” class=”” id=”” color=””]R[/fusion_dropcap]Recently, I had the opportunity to meet with several clients who all made the same mistake. It is imperative when you meet with whatever medical professional you see for the first time on a claim, to tell that medical professional everything that you feel is wrong with you at that time. It is a mistake to simply tell them what the most significant problem is. The reason is that as time goes on, the secondary problems can become the primary problems, and if you didn’t mention it at the first visit, you will have a difficult time making those particular problems part of the claim.
No doctor or medical professional is going to actually remember the visit that you had. That person is going to look at the chart notes and that is what they’re going to base their opinion on. The practical effect is that if you have a severe knee injury but you also have a moderate foot injury and you don’t mention the foot, when we try to put it onto the claim later, that’s not going to happen.
The unfortunate effect of this is that you can lose the right to get medical care, time loss benefits, and permanent disability.
It is also important that you remember what your rights are with regard to medical care, whether it is part of a workers’ comp claim or not. You have the right to see your chart notes and to make corrections in them. You should ask for a copy of the chart note as soon as it gets transcribed so that you can review it, and if the doctor didn’t hear you say something, you can correct that problem and get the doctor to put it in.
Most doctors will not admit that they didn’t perfectly dictate everything that happened during the examination.
The long story short is that the patient is going to have to be very proactive, or they’re going to lose out on their rights if they’re not careful. Part of that can be solved if a lawyer is brought into the claim at an early juncture. The lawyer’s job is to get the file and review that file with the injured worker to make sure that everything that should be in the chart is in the chart.
If you can contact us as soon as possible.
