Managing Your Medical Care

Proper Chiropractic or Medical Care

Proper chiropractic or medical care is the key to your physical recovery and your monetary recovery in your personal injury claim. There are three aspects to maximizing your chances for a prompt physical recovery and satisfactory monetary recovery. The first is to select a doctor who is competent to treat your injuries. The second key is to follow the doctor's advice and to treat as suggested. The third is to ensure that your doctor properly documents your injuries and continued pain and suffering during your injury recovery.

As discussed here and in Payment of Medical Expenses and Wage Lose As Incurred, you have a number of choices in managing your medical care. This is true even if you only have one insurance company to pay your medical bills. Even with no insurance available, there are means of obtaining medical care.. Moreover, your choice is not just whether to obtain care or not, it is also a choice as to the type of doctor you want to see. For the majority of soft tissue claims, it has been our experience that chiropractic care, massage therapy and physical therapy provide a better physical recovery rate than the conservative treatment by an orthopedic surgeon or a general medical practitioner. See Your Choices in Medical Care and Chiropractor vs Orthopedic Surgeon.

You, the injured party, control the second key to recovery. If a doctor gives you instructions whether to return as needed, to exercise at home, or any other instruction, you must follow the instructions and document the fact that you have complied with them. See Following Doctors' Instructions.

Claimants largely ignore the third key, documentation of injuries and pain and suffering. (See Document Everything!) Strangely, many injury attorneys do not properly instruct their clients on how to document their condition with their doctor.

This is unfortunate because, increasingly, insurance companies are affording the medical records much greater weight than the testimony of lay witnesses and/or the claimant regarding interference with their daily life caused by their pain and suffering from the injuries. For example, it is our experience that most claimants, whether represented by attorneys or not, are not successful in documenting within their medical records the significant problems they are suffering in daily life. Lay witness testimony and the testimony of the claimant and her family are supposedly adequate in providing this documentation, and most attorneys rely on that type of testimony to convince the insurer of the problems caused by the accident.

This is truly unfortunate because it shows that those attorneys are out of touch with how the insurance industry and the medical profession work. In the first place, the medical profession has little or no interest in documenting what needs to be documented. In the second place, the insurance industry is less inclined these days to consider lay testimony. In other words, your family, friends, coworker, and pastor can make all the witness statements you wish, but the adjuster is going to value your claim primarily upon what is said in your medical records. Recently, a senior claims adjuster of a major insurance company told us, "If it's not in the medical records, it didn't happen." She means that "it did not happen" so far as she is concerned in evaluating your injury claim.

They want to see your condition documented in those medical records. If it is not, then all else in building your case is on shaky ground. You may need to hire an attorney to present a case that is not supported by the medical records. We would suggest you at least spend the money to consult with an attorney from SettlementCentral.Com's Attorney Directory at $_____ per hour (plus a one-time administrative charge of $_____).

For instruction on how to properly document your insurance claim with the medical profession, see Essential Documentation.

For other information on managing your medical care, continue to:

• Background On Medical Care
  
• When To Seek Medical Care
  
• Evolution of the Claims Process and Medical Care
  
• Rules of the Games: Medical Care Documentation and Insurance
  
• More Rules of the Games: Keys to Obtaining Insurance Payments for Your Medical Costs
  
• "No Medicine - No Money"
  
• Should I Talk to My Doctor About My Legal Claim?
  
• Your Choices in Medical Care
  
• Chiropractors vs Traditional Medicine vs Alternative Medicine
  
• Chiropractors
  
• Alternative Medicine
  
• Testimonial Value: Chiropractors vs Orthopedic Surgeons
  
• Following Your Doctor's Instructions
  
• Essential Documentation in the Medical Records
  
• Phone Calls to the Doctor's Office
  
• Get It In Writing
  
• Referrals - How Do I Assure Accurate Medical Records If I Am Seeing a Number of Doctors?
  
• How Can I Get My Doctor to Correct Obvious Errors in My Medical Records?
  
• No Shows - Document Missed Appointments
  
• Records on Referral
  
• Should I Mention My Chiropractic Treatment When I See My Medical Doctor for the Flu?
  
• Loose Lips Will Sink Your Claim
  
• Narrative Reports: Why, When, How to Obtain, and How Much to Pay