I Was Hurt at Work; Should I Go To My Employer’s Doctor?

If you are injured at work in Florida, your Employer is required to report the injury to their insurance company and send you to a medical provider. Technically, this is the employer’s doctor, though the insurance company has either directed them to send their injured employees to a specific facility, or the employer knows form past experiences that is where injured workers are to be sent. Either way, the answer is yes, you should go to the doctor the employer tells you to see.

Many times these doctors work at walk-in-clinics. These clinics are jack-of-all-trades facilities; they treat everything from colds to flu and bee stings to back injuries. However, most times you will treat with a physician’s assistant who will take your information and then show it to a doctor who signs off on a form with less than a few minutes of contact with you, if at all. Unfortunately, this is allowable by Florida Workers’ Compensation law and Administrative Code.

When you are seen by these facilities, you should keep in mind they are the first line in treatment, not the last. They are looking to make sure you don’t have any broken bones or uncontrollable bleeding wounds. If your injury is not life threatening, or in need of immediate transfer to a hospital or emergency room, they will likely give you medication, therapy and send you back to work. But many times this is not what you, the injured employee, need or want. The question then becomes what can you do to get away from these medical providers and obtain treatment with specialists qualified to treat your injury?

At the Law Offices of Franks & Koenig, we have more than 50 years experience helping injured workers obtain the treatment they require for the injuries they suffered at work. Let us help you get away from the general medical providers and to the back, neck, knee, shoulder and other medical specialists trained and qualified to give you the care you deserve.