Good evening and thank you for joining me again for these nightly podcasts. It is my hope that with these podcasts you can use this information to further your knowledge and make better informed decisions in regards to your health care. I am doctor Harrison Campbell from Restoration Health a premier sugar land chiropractors office. In previous podcasts we were discussing workers compensation and the ins and outs of the system which unfortunately is set to work against you as the patient. Tonight we will wrap up this conversation with some additional general information about workers compensation.
We opened this series on workers compensation with general information and I figured it was a good way to end it as well. Almost like a full circle kind of deal. If you have not picked up by now, the workers compensation system has many steps and procedure which must be adhered to. It is the job of sugar land chiropractors to know these procedure and to help guide you on this long winding path. It is your job as a patient in the workers compensation system to perform the steps that are required of you because as stated before this system is not working for your benefit but the benefit of the insurance company.
There was a topic briefly mentioned about legal representation. I wanted to provide a little more information on that tonight. There are two options when it comes to representation in your workers compensation case. There are attorneys which are specialized in the workers compensation field. That can help you along the way and fight in your behalf against the insurance company which want you back to work as quickly as possible. At Restoration Health a premier sugar land chiropractors office there are some of my workers compensation patients who have utilized an attorney for their case. I do recommend at lesser speaking with one at the beginning of your case so that way they can inform you of the legal side of the road ahead.
The other side of the representation. Coin is an Ombudsman which is an agent which is employees by the state to help you fight for your case. They are trained by the state and are beneficial when it comes to having a voice in your corner during the denials and disputes more workers compensation cases have.
Either one of these option is great for representation regarding your workers compensation case. The reason I declined either of these options is that we are premier sugar land chiropractors here at Restoration Health, we specialize in your health care not legal proceeding. When it comes to experts in the legal aspect of your case either an attorney or Ombudsman agent are the way to go.
Now some of you are wondering about the fees associated with either of these options. The Ombudsman is a state employee, they are paid by the state and thus you have no cost out of your pocket. The attorney collects their fees as a percentage of your benefits you receive while inured. What this means is they have an incentive to help you so they can earn a paycheck. If you are not being paid while inured they are not being paid while inured. Similarly sugar land chiropractors are paid from the insurance company. As a workers compensation case you are covered the by the insurance your employer uses.
No let us switch gears and once again close out with general information regarding your workers compensation case. We have covered the form seventy three or the work status form. This form is the documentation which states what you can and can not do while injured. What we did not cover was the enforcing of this form. It is up to you as the injured person to hold your manager or super visor to adhering to this work status. As sugar land chiropractors we are your treating doctor not your superior while at work. Our job is to provide the documentation to limit your physical activity to where you can still progress in your care. Often times what I find is a patient comes in and they have ben performing duties above what has been written on the works status form. I provide a copy of the work status form to all my patients so they know first hand what their work restrictions are. You have to ensure your superior follows those restrictions.
A different point to this work status form is to follow the restrictions yourself. I have had a patient who was taken off work with their work status form due to their injuries. They ignored the form and proceeded to continue working. Their symptoms worsened drastically, their injuries became more severe, and they ultimately destroyed their case under workers compensation and thus had to use either their own insurance or out of pocket I do not recall which at this point in time.
No lets close with this last point. We covered how Restoration Health is one of only a handful of doctors which will see worker compensation cases. I can not over state this. We are one of very few sugar land chiropractors or even doctors in general which will see workers compensation patients. Due to the system most doctors have moved on from workers compensation. Twenty years ago it seems every corner had a doctor which would see a workers compensation patient. Twenty years ago an injured worker could receive treatment without having to pre-authorize treatment because the system was designed around giving the injured employee the benefit. Now that is not the case. Workers compensation is an uphill battle. Stick with this battle and you will receive the benefits.
Thank you for joining in for tonightÃs podcast closing out workers compensation. I do hope you found it enjoyable and educational. Should you or someone you know be dealing with the ups and downs of a workers compensation claim please contact Restoration Health a premier sugar land chiropractors office in order to schedule you an appointment today. Thank you once again for joining us. I hope to see you next time. Good night and God bless.