PERSONAL INJURY
AND
YOUR CHIROPRACTIC CARE
DR. MICHAEL KOPLEN, M.T., D.C., Q.M.E.
4895 Capitola Rd Capitola, CA 95010 831-475-6450
“DRMICHAELK.com”
copyrighted©material 2000 distribution prohibited
√ Whiplash Defined
√ Goal of Care
√ Rehabilitation Process
√ Retaining an Attorney
√ Vehicle Damage and Injuries
√ Recovery Time
√ Financial Policies
√ Fees for Care Rendered
√ Insurance Personnel Questions
___________________________________________________
General Information
The events and problems that often arise after being injured in an automobile accident can cause you a lot of stress. Personal Injury accidents can cause you considerable pain, frustration and confusion. You may suddenly find yourself being the victim of a life altering situation, which may not have even been your fault!
You may be expected to deal with many factors, including phone calls and questions with insurance companies:
“Will my insurance rates go up? Who is going to pay for all of this?
Who is going to fix my car? How do I get a loaner car in the meanwhile?
Will I be compensated for my lost time, pain and suffering?
Will all of medical expenses be covered?”
There may be legal questions involved, from verifying police reports to liability issues. You may have medical questions and many forms to fill out. The effects of your condition may impose additional stress upon your friends, family, or coworkers.
Unfortunately, you are expected to handle these situations at a time when you are experiencing some degree of “Post Traumatic Shock Syndrome” and its injury related symptoms, such as impaired concentration, fatigue, emotional instability, insomnia, pain, or other symptoms.
Every day we help patients who have encountered injuries from auto or other types of accidents and are experiencing suffering and stresses similar to yours. We understand and empathize with the ordeal you are experiencing, mentally, emotionally and physically.
In more ways than one, we realize that the quality of your future life may depend on the health care decisions you make now! Because you deserve to have your health care taken seriously and your rights protected, we want you to be well informed of some critical aspects of Personal Injury Care.
Our role is to help make it as easy as possible for you to deal with the effects of your injury. In order to help you manage your situation most effectively and reach optimum recovery, there are some important facts about Personal Injury that you should be aware of.
This booklet will help answer many commonly asked questions.
If any questions or problems arise at any time during your course of care, please do not hesitate to ask our Staff or Doctors for help. This is a Health Care Clinic where the only reason the Doctors and Staff are here is to help support you reach your maximum recovery!
WHIPLASH INJURY DEFINED
Whiplash is defined as: “Acceleration/deceleration mechanism of injury transfer to the neck, which may result from a motor vehicle accident, causing bony or soft tissue injuries, which in turn may lead to a variety of clinical manifestations.”
Whiplash occurs when the impact energy that the car attains is transferred to acceleration of the body, leaving the head, neck and possibly other areas victim to whipping back and forth very rapidly.
ASSESSING WHIPLASH DAMAGE
Doctors of Chiropractic are trained to detect underlying instabilities and damage caused by whiplash type accidents. We are trained in the biomechanics of the body, spine and nervous system. We perform specific Orthopedic, Neurological, and other functional tests. They measure and monitor muscle innervation, strength, ranges of motion, intervertebral movement and nerve function. Special X-rays are often taken and analyzed using techniques designed to detect if there have been any structural misalignments or other pathological damage. GOAL OF CARE
The goal of care is to facilitate your return to maximum improvement or pre-injury status. Such care helps to stabilize your condition and prevent permanent residual pain or impairment from occurring.
Your treatment plan is designed to correct the physical cause of your pain and restore proper function back to your body without endless physical therapy or medications that can dangerously cover up your problem. All treatment that is reasonable and necessary to help you attain optimum recovery and stabilization will be provided through direct care at our office, recommended self care strategies, and if necessary, through referrals to other specialists.
Because the purpose of treatment is to have you return to your pre-injury status as quickly as possible, we promote an increased frequency of initial care in order to speed recovery time. Following initial relief care, focus continues on the full rehabilitative process. This involves correcting underlying spinal instabilities resulting from your accident, restoring them to full ranges of motion, while strengthening and stabilizing your spine and surrounding soft tissue areas.
Many people are not aware of the fact that soft tissue related injuries involving muscles, tendons and ligaments surrounding the spine and nerves are usually more dangerous than broken bones. This is because non complicated fractures typically heal in about eight weeks and without serious consequences. But improperly treated or ignored spinal and soft tissue injuries often form lifelong scar tissue and osteoarthritis. Without proper care, permanent degenerative processes usually occur. Even under ideal healing conditions, soft tissue injuries can require anywhere from three to eighteen months to reach their maximum healing improvement. REHABILITATION PROCESS
Whiplash injuries usually involve soft tissue tearing of muscles (strains), ligaments (sprains), and surrounding connective tissue fasciae. Vertebrae of the spine become fixated in misaligned positions (subluxations). This in turn causes nerve impingements and their pathological consequences. These injuries need to be properly rehabilitated and fully stabilized through proper healing attention and time. Otherwise, permanent damage and residual pain will result.
AVERAGE HEALING TIME REQUIRED
FOR WHIPLASH TYPE INJURIES
• Mild Whiplash injuries can typically expect to heal within
Six Weeks to Three Months.
• Moderate Whiplash injuries typically require
Three to Twelve Months to heal, and usually require periodic followup maintenance care to provide stability.
• Severe Injuries (that do not require surgery) can take
One to Three Years, and Even Longer, to reach limited
maximum recovery.
FACTORS THAT CAN DELAY OR LIMIT YOUR FULL RECOVERY
• Pre-Existing factors such as prior injuries, scar tissue, poor physical
condition, obesity, diabetes, drug abuse, nutritional disorders.
• Delays in starting treatment.
• Poor compliance with keeping treatment appointments.
• Poor compliance following doctor’s recommendations.
• Poor compliance with suggested rehabilitative exercises.
• Biomechanical stressors causing flareups and setbacks such as improper posture, bending, lifting, physical overuse, etc.
• Emotional stress causing muscle tensions, spinal compressions, hormonal imbalances, physical distress, etc.
• Second (new) injury overlapping.
FACTS ABOUT INSURANCE COVERAGE
When injury results from an automobile accident there are two areas of insurance coverage that may be responsible for reimbursing the injured parties for care rendered. There may also be personal settlement awards for lost wages and suffering, in addition to reimbursements for treatment.
Please keep in mind that it is extremely rare for patients to be reimbursed for “pain and suffering.” Financial awards are almost always for actual lost wages or other tangible costs and expenses incurred. It is recommended that you keep an organized journal of any financial losses you may experience as a result of your injury, including wages lost from missed work, traveling expenses for treatment, etc.
Automobile insurance policies typically cover liability, fire, theft, collision, uninsured motorist, and medical payment coverage. Your “Med Pay” coverage pays for Chiropractic/Medical care for injuries resulting from an automobile accident. It pays for the driver’s and all passengers’ health care services regardless which vehicle was at fault.
Regardless who was at fault, the Med Pay portion of your insurance may still be billed by all Health Care Providers who treat you, and your insurance company will acquire its reimbursement from the liability coverage of the at-fault party’s insurance company. Ultimately, your Med Pay coverage is responsible for paying for your Chiropractic/Medical services up to the limit of your policy.
RETAINING AN ATTORNEY
It is our experience that utilizing an attorney is a wise choice if your injury is moderate to severe. Most accident victims don’t know all of their legal rights and can become very distressed dealing with insurance companies, but once an attorney is retained you are free from having to speak to insurance companies or other parties. All questions and inquires will be handled by your attorney and doctor.
Attorneys can help protect your rights and help you get all the money you are entitled to for your health care coverage, damage to your vehicle, and any awards for lost wages resulting from your accident. The decision whether or not to attain an Attorney is best determined after the Doctor examines the extent of your injuries and your related conditions. (If your case warrants having an Attorney represent you, we can supply you with a list of competent Attorneys if you do not already have one.)
Many patients are under the false assumption that if they retain an Attorney, the Attorney’s fees will take away from the full settlement awards that they may otherwise have been entitled to receiving. Actually, Attorneys know how to handle insurance claims appropriately and will acquire the maximum awards that you may be entitled to receive. The settlements reached include the Attorney’s fees and are almost always greater than the amount that an individual can negotiate on their own. The insurance companies’ own research shows that car accident victims receive more money when represented by an Attorney.
Insurance companies usually try to discourage patients from retaining an Attorney. Most insurance companies contact accident victims immediately after an accident. The companies tell victims they want to help. The truth is, insurance companies do not necessarily care to “help” you. Their primary motive is to deny care as much as possible for cost containment. That is all that they truly care about. They often assert to patients, “You should not be as injured as you are claiming based on the damage to the vehicles, nature of the accident, etc.”
Ask yourself, who is the insurance company really trying to help by having you settle your case quickly and prematurely? The primary reason they want you to settle your case ASAP is because they are well aware that personal injuries such as whiplashes require on average five months to one year of treatment in order to restore the damaged structures to their pre-injury status.
The cost for proper care, plus other potential awards, exceeds the amount the insurance companies offer in their initial settlements. If this was not statistically true then insurance companies would not be eager to quickly settle cases and would elect to have injured patients complete their course of care and then settle all payments. Remember, insurance companies are in the business to make as much profit as possible, and they do this by taking the least expensive route.
Many patients are eager to settle as soon as they are “out of pain.” The problem that all too often occurs with this strategy is that the pain will return again if the underlying damaged structures are not fully treated to their maximum correction.
Many patients experience headaches, muscle spasming, pain, and other problems weeks or even months after they elect to discontinue care. When any of these symptoms return, and they realize that more care is required, they are left paying for this care out of pocket.
Most people are unaware that the effects of uncorrected whiplash injuries lead to osteoarthritis, degeneration of spinal discs, diminished ranges of motion, and can ultimately cause nerve dysfunction. The facts substantiating such residual conditions resulting from improper or limited care is well documented.
All too often we see patients coming in for more care several months or even years after having settled their cases by stopping care prematurely, only to find out that their uncorrected instabilities have arthritically degenerated. At this stage it is difficult to correct such previously preventable conditions.
It’s a standard in the insurance industry that they like to “close cases” within three to six months.
Many insurance companies call patients and make them feel guilty if they require care beyond six months. They will tell the patient that according to statistics, they “Should be better by now.” Or they may tell the patient, “Based on the limited damage to your car, you should not be this injured and be requiring such prolonged care.”
They may accuse the patient and the doctor both of embellishing care. They may threaten to not reimburse for any care if the patient does not end treatment after a certain time period (usually six months). Insurance carriers often “bribe” patients into terminating care by offering to pay all medical expenses without further hassle if they stop care now. They may even offer to reward patients with small settlements if they stop care.
The reason why the insurance companies want to “close your file” as quickly as possible is because once your case has closed, you cannot reopen it in the event that you find yourself needing further care or care to treat future for residual problems that stem from your initial injuries. The insurance companies know that a fair percentage of people who experience whiplash type injuries and do not complete their recommended care unfortunately end up with some degree of permanent residual effects. Insurance companies fears such residuals that require future supportive care and this is why they have a strong desire to financially persuade patients to settle and close their cases as quickly as possible. They know statistically that cases requiring more than six to twelve months of care often result in some degree of residual pain requiring periodic treatment. Once the patient has settled their case they have no recourse for any payments by the insurance company for more care.
Please be aware that insurance companies rarely provide additional settlement payments for non-economic losses.
In other words, while they typically reimburse for vehicle damage, doctors’ fees and lost wages, rarely do they provide additional money for “pain and suffering.”
REAL FACTS ABOUT WHIPLASH INJURIES AND VEHICLE DAMAGE
THAT INSURANCE COMPANIES HOPE YOU DON’T KNOW!
A common misconception people have is that the amount of vehicle crash damage due to a collision offers a direct correlation to the degree of occupant injury. Although the insurance companies would like you to believe that vehicle damage should dictate the degree of injuries sustained, this correlation is in fact not true according to all research crash studies performed on human subjects!
Here are the Facts:
In accident tests performed on volunteers who were rear ended by vehicles traveling less than five miles per hour, 38% of the test subjects incurred pain and other whiplash-type symptoms. Also noted was the fact that few bumpers are damaged on vehicles rear ended at these low speeds. What occurs in low speed collisions is the impact velocity is transferred from several thousand pounds of mass directly to the occupants.
“While the vehicle damage resulting from low speed rear impacts is minimal or nonexistent, claims of neck or back injury often result. The amount of crush a vehicle sustains does not relate to the expected occupant injury. In every human test study performed, what was invariably revealed was the opposite finding, i.e., the more vehicle damage, the less chance the occupant will suffer whiplash type injuries to the spine. If the occupant is decelerated over a greater time/distance due to a large crush/arresting distance, then the likelihood of injury is reduced. This conclusion has been demonstrated by both practical examples and mathematical expression.”
[Brault, Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 1998, “Clinical Response of Human Subjects to Rear-End Automobile Collisions.”
Watanabe, SAE 1999-01-0635, “Relationships Between Occupant Motion and Seat Characteristics in Low Speed Rear Impacts.”
Szabo, SAE 1996, 962432, “Human Subject Kinematics and Electromyographic Activity During Low End Rear Impacts.”
West, Accident Reconstruction Journal, May/June p22-26, 1993, “Low Speed Rear-End Collision Testing Using Human Subjects.”]
Simply said, when the vehicle bends or crushes, it absorbs much of the impact. In slower speed collisions or collisions involving minimum vehicle damage, the impact velocity sustained is thus transferred to the occupants who absorb the effects of the impact trauma! We see this phenomenon when race car drivers walk away seemingly unscathed by high speed crashes that destroy their cars. Their cars are designed to absorb as much impact energy as possible by falling apart. (All that remains is the survival frame to protect the driver.) To the contrary, most whiplash injured patients are struck by another vehicle traveling less than 25 mph with minimum vehicle damage resulting.
This is confirmed in Foret-Bruno, Maag, Morris and Ono’s research involving over three hundred thousand test studies, which concluded:
“In accidents less than 9.3 mph, 36% resulted in neck injuries; if speeds were greater than 9.3 mph, 20% resulted in neck injuries. Neck whiplashes occurred in 22% of collisions if traveling less than 31 mph; 17% whiplashes occurred if traveling greater than 31 mph. If the seat back broke, there was a 39% whiplash occurrence, whereas there was a 61% whiplash occurrence if the seat did not break. (This is because the broken seats have absorbed the impact velocity and thus decrease the shearing force transferred to the body).
Fifty percent of neck injuries occur at low speed impacts with minimum vehicle damage.”
Charles Carroll, M.D., Paul McAtee, M.D., and Lee Riley, Jr., M.D., in their article, “Objective Findings for Diagnosis of Whiplash,” published in the Journal of Musculoskeletal Medicine, succinctly summarized these findings:
“The amount of damage to the automobile bears little relation to the force applied to the cervical spine of the occupants. The acceleration of the occupant’s head depends on the force imparted, the moment of inertia of the struck vehicle, and the amount of collapse of force dissemination by the crumpling of the vehicle.”
It is unlikely that your insurance company will tell you that “65% of all insurance claims are from injuries sustained in accidents less than 9.32 mph because whiplash injuries are most frequently encountered when only slight vehicle deformation (dents and scrapes) occur. It is the slow to moderate collision which causes maximum hyperextension of the cervical spine.”
[Castro; European Spine Journal; 6:366-375, 1997 “Do Whiplash Injuries Occur in Low Speed Rear Impacts”]
Twenty two percent of whiplash victims report no injury at the scene of the accident. Pain often occurs 12 to 48 hours post collision. Many auto accident victims do not feel the full extent of their injuries until two weeks or more after the accident. Initial lack of complaint is due to innate defensive factors such as shock, protective bodily defenses, and latent inflammatory/injurious response mechanisms. This phenomenon is similar to athletes who feel pain sometime after an event, not during the game when the impacts occur.
“There is also no relationship between long term prognosis and the severity of damage the impacted car sustained in rear impacts. Furthermore, only rarely do the occupants of the impacting vehicle claim injury.”
THE TRUTH ABOUT RECOVERY TIME
Insurance carriers request that treatment be “reasonable and necessary” to return the patient to their pre-injury status or maximum medical improvement (MMI). The length of time required to reach pre-injury or MMI status will vary from one patient to another. Recovery time is dependent not only on the severity of the injury, but is also greatly affected by many other factors. Two people involved in seemingly similar accidents with similar vehicle damage may experience very different degrees of injury and require different treatment and recovery times.
FACTORS THAT DETERMINE HOW QUICKLY YOU WILL HEAL
• Severity of Injuries sustained
• Past medical history of underlying instabilities
• Current health and fitness levels
• Age
• Seating and body position at the time of impact
• Size of the car
• Seat back and head restraint design
• Seat belt usage and quality of protection
• Anticipatory state immediately prior to impact
• Activity requirements in work and daily activities
• Stress factors
Statistically, women suffer greater injury than males from similar whiplash impacts, because female’s cervical musculature is usually not as strong and therefore cannot protect their necks as well as males are protected.
Because of the differences in severity of accidents and injuries sustained, different treatment approaches and different healing times are expected for different individuals. It is an unrealistic prognostic expectation to be able to pre-formulate exactly when individuals who have been involved in whiplash injuries will be fully healed. Many people reach full improvement within three to five months. Others require more than a year recovery time.
Insurance companies cite “quick end” healing statistics and tell whiplash victims, “Based on the damage to your car and the injuries you claim to have, you should be well within a few weeks.”
They have been known to add further deception by claiming, “If you aren’t fully recovered within five months, you should be referred out to another specialist for further evaluation. If your Chiropractor has seen you this many times, and you’re not better, then s/he’s probably over treating you.”
Doctors are trained and authorized to evaluate and diagnose the extent of your injuries, as well as determine your appropriate course of care – not insurance personnel or “accident reconstructionists”!
It is insulting and deceptive for anyone to tell a whiplash victim, “Based on the damage to your car, the speed of impact, or the other victims’ lack of injury, ‘you should not be too injured,’ and you ‘should be well’ by some certain time frame.”
They do not know the complexities of your particular injuries, your individual body structure, or your personal life stresses that are affecting your recovery.
Insurance companies know that statistically a fair percentage of auto accident patients will become so frustrated and defeated trying to argue for reimbursements that they are entitled to – especially during a time when they are hurting, tired, and upset – that they will surrender their right to fair care.
The intended goal of your care is to be honest with your progress and provide you with the proper type of treatment, for whatever time frame is required that allows you to reach either your pre-injury status or your maximum improvement.
While we always strive to be cooperative in the fairest way possible to all parties involved, it is our primary concern and responsibility to support you, our patient, first and foremost!
PERSONAL INJURY FINANCIAL POLICIES
When a Personal Injury results from an automobile accident, there are two areas of insurance coverage that may be responsible for reimbursing the injured parties for care rendered. Your “Med Pay” insurance coverage pays for “reasonable and necessary” Chiropractic/Medical care for injuries resulting from an automobile accident. It pays for the driver’s and all passengers’ health care services regardless of which vehicle was at fault.
Even if the accident is not your fault, your Med Pay portion of your insurance will still be billed first by all Health Care Providers who treat you, and your insurance company will acquire its reimbursement from the liability coverage of the at-fault party’s insurance company. Ultimately, your Med Pay coverage is responsible for paying for your Chiropractic/Medical services, up to the limits of your policy. Even when a lien is signed, your med pay will be being billed as treatment continues. (Patients sometimes mistakenly believe that when a lien is signed, all billing and settlements will occur after the case is completed.)
Our office will bill your insurance company for you. However, your insurance company will often disclose your financial coverage only to you. Once your coverage has been determined, we will need your claim number and your adjuster’s name and phone number in order to maintain correspondences with them regarding your course of care and related billing.
THIRD PARTY PAYMENTS
If another party is at fault and liable, their insurance company may be responsible for reimbursements for your care. If you have Med Pay coverage, your Med Pay will be billed first and your insurance company will then recover their payments from the third party insurance company.
If your Med Pay coverage limit is exceeded, further reimbursement will be sought from the third party carrier.
Two requirements help insure that third party compensation will be acquired:
1) Retain an attorney to insure that third party reimbursement obligations will be fulfilled. Not only will an attorney help assure that reimbursements are handled properly, they will also protect your legal rights and any possible compensation awards you may be entitled to receive (for damage, financial losses, disability, etc.).
2) A lien must be signed authorizing the insurance company to pay our office directly for services rendered.
The reason that an attorney and signed lien are required is that they allow our office to pursue billing. Without liens, insurance companies often refuse to pay, even though they are legally liable to pay for the injured party’s care. The third party insurance carrier may refuse to pay knowing that the only alternative the patient or the office has is to challenge the insurance company in court to retrieve payments. Insurance companies have their own attorneys kept on retainer. It is both very difficult for a patient to find an attorney who is willing to suddenly represent them in a case they have not been managing all along, plus it involves considerable additional expenses to have to go to court. By retaining an attorney at the proper time, these scenarios are almost always averted.
In the event that a patient chooses not to retain an attorney and sign a lien,
standard Office Policy requires that the patient make payments for treatment and services at the time they are rendered. In this event, the patient may seek to acquire their personal reimbursements directly from the insurance carrier themselves.
FEES FOR CARE RENDERED
Doctors’ fees for care rendered for personal injury treatments are regulated by statewide regional apportionments that determine usual and customary fee setting.
Despite this well known fact, some insurance companies are guilty of telling patients that their Doctor is charging too much for the services being rendered. Personal Injury and Workman’s Compensation cases almost always result in more costly treatment visits and higher case fees than average patient visits. This is because the rehabilitative process for such injuries typically requires additional modalities, services and documentation. Adjunctive therapies may include traction, Myofascial Release Techniques, Massage Therapy, Electrical or Muscle Stimulation applications, etc.
Personal Injury rehabilitation care is intended to be thorough and complete in order to fully return the patient to their pre-injury status as quickly as possible. Such cases also require additional time and care in order to be properly managed: Extensive evaluation is required. Proper and extensive documentation is also required. Insurance companies and legal parties involved require periodic written reports verifying and documenting your course of care and outcomes.
Personal Injury cases also involve our office maintaining correspondences with insurance carriers and attorneys. Additional billing processes must also be administered. Proper filing of all information regarding your case is kept. Doctors can be depositioned for your case or called upon to represent your case in court.
If you have questions about any aspect of your case please do not hesitate to ask your Doctor or the Staff for assistance. We are here to offer you guidance and care that will help you reach maximum recovery from the effects of your accident as quickly as possible while helping assist you in obtaining due reimbursements. How To Properly Answer Questions That
Insurance Personnel May Ask You
Insurance Personnel will most likely call you periodically to “check up” on your healing progress. You may have already had communication with your claims adjuster “managing” your case.
The truth is that when they call you they have an agenda besides a compassion for your best interest.
They are recording your call and are looking for information that helps them foresee when your case will be closed, and they seek reasons to limit or deny you further care. Because of such tactics
it’s important to know how to effectively communicate with them in order to safeguard the health care that you are entitled to receiving.
We have provided for you a list of questions that insurance personnel commonly ask patients. Please read through them to familiarize yourself with them before you need to use them. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask the doctor. Give us a call if necessary to clarify any concerns that you may have.
You may want to have the list of questions and appropriate answers found on the following pages readily accessible to use as guidelines when your insurance company calls you.
Note that key words that are standardly used in the insurance industry are capitalized. Try to use these words and terms and stay with the basic concepts used in these examples.
RESPONSES TO GIVE TO QUESTIONS THAT INSURANCE PERSONNEL ARE LIKELY TO ASK YOU
√ Avoid “dialoguing” with them.
• Be honest but do not give them any more information than what is necessary to answer their questions.
• Give the briefest answers possible.
Imagine you are on a witness stand at a court trial:
• “YES” and “NO” answers are the safest.
• Avoid giving them additional information.
They like to probe – trying to trip you up in hopes of finding “snags” in your “story.”
√ Do not be afraid or intimidated by them!
You are the insured. They are hired by you to serve your accident and injury needs. You were injured and you have every right to proper care. Do not let them make you feel guilty for receiving the care you need and deserve – this is why you have insurance coverage!
√ When they ask you how you feel, just tell them:
“I am still in PAIN”
(Do not say “sore, “uncomfortable,” “hurting,” etc: use the word “pain.” (Assuming that you are in pain – tell the truth.).
Use the words “mild, moderate, severe or extreme” to describe your level of pain.
Also let them know:
It is still DIFFICULT for me to Move/Turn/Bend/Rotate (e.g. my neck, low back) and it’s PAINFUL when I do. (Assuming it’s true.)
√ When they ask if you are better, tell them:
“I am IMPROVING, but I have not fully recovered.
Progress is being made but I have not returned to my Pre-Injury Status.”
√ If they ask you, “When do you think you will reach full recovery,” tell them: “I DON’T KNOW.”
All I know is that I have not reached my Full Improvement yet.
“I am Still Recovering and am not the way I was before this accident caused my injuries.”
√ If they ask you how much longer you will need care, tell them:
“Until I reach either my PRE-INJURY STATUS or when I reach MAXIMUM MEDICAL IMPROVEMENT.”
√ If they ask you how long you think that will take, tell them:
“I don’t know. I am IMPROVING from the care I am receiving, but I do not know how long it will take for me to reach my FULL IMPROVEMENT.
If you want to know the answer to that you should ASK THE DOCTOR. They will know the answer, not me –
I am not the doctor.”
√ If you feel cornered or confused by any questions, tell them:
“I don’t know; you should ASK THE DOCTOR about that. They are managing my care and can tell you what you need to know.
√ If you feel extremely uncomfortable or uncertain while speaking with them, or if you need time to gather your answers, simply tell them:
“Oh, I have to go right now … I’m late for something very important … please call me back or just call the doctor.”
If needed, do not hesitate calling our office immediately
and let the staff or doctor know what happened and we gladly help direct you! 831-475-6450