Can I Choose My Own Doctor for Treatment if I am Injured at Work in Nebraska?
You can choose your own doctor for the treatment of work injuries covered by workers’ compensation, but your employer has the right to refuse the request.
Workers’ compensation pays for the treatment of work-related injuries, but the more you think about it, the harder it is to separate the work injury from the rest of your medical history. Many workers’ compensation disputes arise from workers’ comp doctors’ assessments to the effect that the patient’s ongoing symptoms are due to a pre-existing medical condition instead of to the work injury. Workers often find themselves wishing that they could see a doctor who already knows them and understands them. Too often, it feels like the doctors chosen by your employer’s workers’ comp insurance care more about saving the insurance company money and paying as little as possible for your claim than they do about your health. The good news is that Nebraska workers’ compensation laws enable injured workers to choose their own doctors to treat their work injuries, but some restrictions apply. If you need help with a request to get treatment from your own family doctor or specialist paid for through workers’ comp insurance, contact an Omaha workers compensation lawyer.
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Getting Treatment From a Doctor You Know
If you do not notify your employer early on about which doctor you want to provide the treatment stemming from your workers’ compensation claim, your employer has the right to choose. The best time to submit the employee’s choice or change of physician form is as soon as the emergency room physician discharges you from the ER and refers you for follow-up treatment. Nebraska law acknowledges that doctors in non-emergency settings can provide the best care for patients with whom they have an ongoing physician-patient relationship. They know your medical history and which treatments you have responded well to in the past.
You have the right to request treatment from a physician who has previously treated you or an immediate family member of yours, that is, your spouse, children, parents, stepparents, or stepchildren. You must provide documentation to your employer that the requested doctor has previously treated you or a close family member of yours. If you do not provide this documentation, the employer will deny your request. In other words, you do not have the right to choose a doctor just because he or she has a good reputation, but only because of previous experience with this doctor.
What if You are Unhappy With the Doctor Your Employer Chooses?
If you disagree with the course of treatment indicated by a workers’ compensation doctor chosen by your employer, you may file the same form to request a change. You can only do this once in the course of a workers’ compensation case.
Contact Andres Law Offices, PC LLO, About Workers’ Compensation Disputes
An Omaha workers’ compensation lawyer can help you if your employer denies your request to have your family doctor treat your work injury. Contact Andres Law Offices, PC LLO in Omaha, Nebraska, about your case.