Medical Consultations
At some point after your workplace injury, your physician will either decide that you are able to go back to work or will write a P&S report as noted above. At this point, your workers’ comp lawyer can make arrangements for you to be seen by a medical professional who specializes in the kind of injuries you suffered. During this consultation, the examiner will evaluate your physical and medical condition. It is very likely that your employer’s insurance carrier will also request that you be evaluated by a medical examiner of their choosing. You need to make sure that you attend all these consultations in order to prevent jeopardizing any future or present workers’ comp benefits.
The physicians concerned will then issue medical reports that document the extent and nature of your disability, whether you need further medical attention, and whether or not you can return to work. This process usually takes about four to six weeks. Once your workers’ comp lawyer receives your reports, they can review, evaluate, and rate them on your behalf, giving you a much better idea as to what your claim is worth and what kind of outcome you should expect. Rating a report involves assigning a percentage of disability based on the information in it. The guidelines for rating medical reports in workers’ comp cases are uniform throughout the State of California. Workers’ comp benefits are based on this rating rather than on your pain and suffering, your loss of income, or the extent of the medical treatment you received. This is why the medical consultation is the most important part of the entire claims process.
