How Seeing a Physician after an Accident Can Help Your Case
There are many ways in which a physician can help your personal injury case and increase your chances of reaching a fair settlement. First and foremost, by seeing your doctor regularly after an accident and following the recommended treatment until your conditions subside, you will develop a record of your injuries and ongoing progress. A doctor will be able to monitor your progress and provide referrals, essentially becoming the hub amongst the various specialists you see. Alongside trusting the expertise of a doctor, the assistance of an experienced car accident lawyer near Surrey, BC can also be important to achieving success with your claim. For instance, the information collected by your physician can be used to develop your case.
Seeking Medical Attention
The purpose of your first visit with your doctor after your personal injury accident is to inform him or her of how you were injured, to allow an examination with respect to your injuries, to treat you with medication or recommend rehabilitation if needed, and to document the injuries.
You can help by making sure that you tell your doctor all of your symptoms without exaggerating them and see that your doctor records all the information. You may need to repeat the information or inquire to ensure that all of your injuries are noted.
Monitor Progress
Depending on the severity or extent of your injuries, you will be asked to return for a follow-up appointment shortly thereafter your initial post-accident visit. It is critical to make and attend the appointments as requested in order to comply with the recommended treatment plan intended to help heal and to prevent greater impairment from your injuries. If you see the doctor regularly, ICBC cannot assume that your injuries have healed. Comparisons can be made later between the injuries that healed quickly and those which continued over an extended period of time, and the reasonableness and necessity of treatment can be substantiated along with the prognosis for recovery. Without record from your physician, some of this information may be left up to interpretation by ICBC.
Referrals
By seeing your doctor regularly after your accident and following his or her instructions (e.g., getting a regular x-ray is typically required before an MRI can be requested), he or she will be in a position to refer you to the specialists you need. Whether it is an orthopedic surgeon, neurologist, plastic surgeon, psychologist, ophthalmologist and/or others, your doctor can help you to get appointments for these specialists. Your physician will also open the door to access for testing that makes documentation about the injury more precise and therefore improves the treatment recommendations.
Obtain Specialist Reports and Discuss Them With You
Each of the specialists you see will write a report letter back to your doctor, allowing him or her to analyze the findings, discuss them with you, and determine if another type of doctor or health care provider is needed. In this sense, your doctor can be the hub for your medical care rehabilitation.
Accident Benefit Forms
If the injuries resulted from an ICBC insured automobile accident, then you will need to ask your doctor to complete the required benefit forms for submission to ICBC. Your doctor will be able to assess the impact of the injuries on your daily life and estimate the level of limitation caused by the injuries. The form for income replacement benefits is completed if you are unable to work from the injuries sustained. In the form, your doctor may provide a diagnosis and remark about the scope, severity and duration of an injury. Additional forms are available to access other accident benefits (e.g., caregiver expenses, attendant care, medical and rehabilitation expenses, and in some cases housekeeping and home maintenance). Your Surrey personal injury lawyer will be able to walk you through the processes for these forms and keep you on track with regular submission deadlines.
Pre- and Post-Accident Medical History
Your physician has information about your pre-accident health, any pre-existing conditions that may have deteriorated from the accident, and your post-accident recovery. The notes made in your clinical chart will document the complaints made at each date of visit can help prove damages in your legal case. For example, to assert a legal claim that your relationship with your family and society deteriorated due to injuries sustained in the accident, a record of post-traumatic stress symptoms over time is helpful. These types of factors are influenced by your ability and desire to provide a complete summary of concerns and symptoms to your family doctor on a regular basis.
Medical Legal Information
ICBC and your own lawyer will likely request medical information from your family physician. In addition, your lawyer will likely request medical records from your family physician for review by specialist physicians. Your lawyer may retain one or more specialist physicians to provide an opinion on the complaints made, the specific symptoms, interference with the resumption of daily activities and the long-term effects. Your personal injury lawyer may ask you to see medical specialists that he or she has experience with in addition to those which your family physician recommends to further add value to your case.
Our Personal Injury Lawyers near Surrey Are Ready to Assist You
Both you and your family doctor can play a significant role in the success of your case in addition to your personal injury or car accident lawyer in Surrey. Your physician can help you to obtain the treatment needed and will play a vital role, directly or indirectly, in helping you recover and obtain compensation from the losses incurred from a car accident or other personal injury.
At Spraggs & Co., our injury lawyers work hard to pursue fair compensation that you deserve for the injuries you now suffer from as a result of an accident. Call us today for a free, no-obligation consultation at 1-866-939-3339.
