Documenting Your Injuries: How Important Is It After an Accident?
If you’ve been involved in a car or work-related accident in Brooklyn, documentation is crucial for two key reasons.
First, documenting the injuries allows physicians to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment.
Second, injured workers need medical documentation to receive workers’ compensation, while auto accident victims need documentation to file insurance claims and take legal action, if applicable.
To ensure that your injuries are properly documented, go to a medical clinic in Brooklyn that specializes in auto accident and work-related injuries.
Learn how the documentation process works.
Initial Paperwork
Most patients don’t realize that this process starts when they are still in the waiting room. The waiting room staff provides patients with paperwork to fill out.
Workers’ compensation and auto accident patients receive specific forms that include questions related to the accident, such as how the accident occurred and when it happened.
The paperwork also includes questions about the symptoms related to the accident. This paperwork goes in the patient file, and the doctor reviews it before the examination.
It is also used when filing for workers’ compensation or no-fault benefits.
Patient History
After filling out the paperwork, the patient is taken back to see the accident doctor. The doctor conducts another history check regarding the accident and any pre-existing conditions.
The patient’s history is also kept on file and can be used when making workers’ compensation or insurance claims.
Physical Examination
Doctors who treat workers’ compensation car accident victims also document their findings during the physical examination. Accident victims undergo a comprehensive examination that includes a neurological and orthopedic evaluation.
These examinations are not subjective and include important data. For example, the doctor will measure an injured joint’s range of motion and include the measurement in the documentation.
Then, during the next evaluation, the doctor will conduct the same examination to see if the range of motion has improved. The results from the initial examination and all subsequent examinations are documented and included in the patient’s file.
Diagnostic Testing
Workers’ compensation and no-fault insurance companies also expect documentation from diagnostic testing.
Diagnosing testing is also important because it aids in diagnosis and helps the doctor determine the severity of the injury.
Depending on the type of injury, the doctor might order an X-ray, CT scan, MRI, EMG, and nerve conduction study. The same diagnostic tools might be used later in the treatment to evaluate the progress.
Again, the results for each test are kept in the file and can be used to corroborate the patient’s claim.
Choose the Right Medical Clinic In Brooklyn
Not all medical clinics provide the proper documentation when treating people who have been injured at work or in a car accident.
If you go to a doctor that doesn’t provide the appropriate documentation, your claim could be denied, and even worse, you might not receive the treatment you need.
Choose the right medical clinic that specializes in treating accident victims. Then you will get the care you need, and you will have the documentation necessary to file your no-fault or workers’ compensation claim.
Conveniently located at 3500 Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn, NY, we are here to help you get well. Call (718) 769-2521 to make an appointment to get on the road to recovery!