#8 What kinds of things can hurt my patient’s personal injury claim due to a car accident?
QUESTION: What kinds of things can hurt my patient’s personal injury claim?
ANSWER: For your patient to have a speedy and full recovery and for the benefit of their personal injury claim, it’s critical that they follow the advice and guidance from their medical provider’s closely — including attending all appointments, seeing the specialists they are referred to, and doing their exercises. Demonstrating their commitment to healing, not only supports their recovery, it helps their claim.
What kinds of things can hurt my patient’s personal injury claim?
Quite simply, everything that your patient does to have a full and speedy recovery helps their claim. Conversely, anything they do that prolongs their treatment and slows down their recovery hurts their claim. To ensure that your patient’s medical bills are paid for and for them to protect their personal injury claim, your patient needs to:
- Keep all of their appointments with providers
- Be consistent with doing their stretches and exercises
- Follow through with any referrals that their medical provider team gives them to help their recovery, including seeing a massage therapist, a physical therapist, or a surgeon.
If you refer a patient to a surgeon, some patients may say, “I am never going to have surgery. I don’t want to see a surgeon.” If someone doesn’t want to have surgery, they certainly shouldn’t have it and their response is understandable.
That being said, it is important for their personal injury claim that they go to the appointment with the surgeon, be examined, and at a minimum, get the information from the specialist about why they’re recommending surgery.
It is possible during the appointment that the surgeon will say that your patient doesn’t actually need surgery. Or, maybe they’ll hear information from the surgeon that helps them better understand the risks of both having the surgery and not having it. Whatever your patient’s decision is about having or not having the procedure — what’s most important is that they make fully informed decisions. This is what’s best for them in making a full recovery and what’s best for their personal injury claim.
We’re here to be a bridge of support for you and your patients.
We have developed a robust library of information for your patients who have been injured in an accident, which can be found in the INJURED? START HERE portal on our website.
There are 40 topic-focused articles, with accompanying videos, organized into the four categories that include the personal injury claim-related questions we’re asked most often, which include:
- Top 10 Personal Injury Claim Mistakes to Avoid
- What You Need to Know About Your Claim
- How Are My Medical Bills & Wage Loss Paid
- How to Prepare for Your Independent Medical Exam
Each article provides advice and guidelines to help your patients navigate each phase of the personal injury claims process. Whether we represent your patient or not, we are passionate about them knowing how to protect their rights, get the medical care they need, and avoid the mistakes that can harm their personal injury claim.
Each article provides advice and guidelines to help your patients navigate each phase of the personal injury claims process. Whether we represent your patient or not, we are passionate about them knowing how to protect their rights, get the medical care they need, and avoid the mistakes that can harm their personal injury claim.
Additionally, if it would be helpful to have the information we feature on our website available in your office to pass along to your patients, we’ve developed brochures for each of the four article series -- in both English and Spanish that we’re happy to send to your office. Please complete the form below and we’ll get them out to you promptly.
