Do I Have To Go To The Workers' Comp Doctor? | Perkins Law Firm

In Georgia, injured workers are often told that they must go to the doctor that the employer or workers? compensation insurance company chooses. This reminds me of an old saying that the best lies have just enough truth in them to make them believable. There is some truth, but not much, in the idea that the employer can choose your doctor in a workers? compensation case.? There are many exceptions to this rule- so many that usually some exception will apply to your case and you will be able to have at least some input into your choice of doctors.

To understand the exceptions, you need to first understand the rule.? State Board Rule 201 contains some of the information about how doctors are chosen in a Georgia workers? compensation case.? Subsection (a) of this rule which talks about the employer?s list of doctors (technically known in most cases as the ?panel of physicians?) talks about three different types of lists that an employer may have.? This blog post is only going to focus on the first type of list (the traditional ?panel of physicians?) because it is the type of list used in most Georgia workers? compensation cases.

Board Rule 201(a)(1) specifies that an employer?s panel of physicians must have the following:

1. At least six (6) nonassociated physicians
2. At least one orthopedic physician
3. No more than two industrial clinics
4. At least one minority physicians

So, there are several requirements to a valid panel of physicians.? First, there must be at least six doctors that are not associated.? Among those six or more doctors, there must be at least one orthopedic physician, at least one minority physician, and no more than two industrial clinics.

So, why does it matter if a a panel of physicians is valid? If the panel of physicians is valid and properly posted and explained, then the employer and workers? compensation insurance company can limit an injured workers? choice of doctors to the doctors on the panel.? However, it is still the injured worker who gets to make the actual choice among those doctors. ?So, even in that situation, the employer or insurance company do not actually get to choose the specific doctor who will treat the injury. ?More importantly, if the panel of physicians does not meet the requirements listed above, then an injured worker should be able to choose any doctor for treatment of the work injury even if the doctor is not one of the doctors on the employer?s list.

Our next blog post will have information about whether you can change to a different doctor and how you can do so.

Source: http://westgeorgiainjuryexperts.com/blog/do-i-have-to-go-to-the-workers-comp-doctor/

the walking dead season 2 finale born free walking dead finale nascar bristol narwhal st louis university mario manningham