At the Matt Fendon Law Group, our highly skilled Arizona workers’ compensation lawyers are ready to help you with all aspects of your workers’ compensation claim, including the choice of your attending physician.
Your relationship with your doctor is one of the most important ones you can have with anyone outside of your family. If you are injured at work in Arizona, or experience a chronic illness or other medical condition because of your work environment, then workers’ compensation benefits may be available to you.
But one question you may have is if you can choose your own doctor under workers’ comp. Another may be how you can change doctors, even if you already have one.
At the Matt Fendon Law Group, helping our clients understand how workers’ compensation works for them is fundamental to what we do as Arizona workers’ comp lawyers. Here, we go over how the Arizona system for workers’ compensation claims affects your choice of doctor in a workers’ compensation settlement.
If you have any questions about how to choose, keep, or change your doctor under a workers’ compensation claim in Arizona, you can reach us at (800) 229-3880, every day, 24 hours a day to set up a free initial consultation with one of our experienced workers’ compensation attorneys.
The Role of Attending Physicians Under Workers’ Compensation
You may already have a primary care doctor. If so, then you can ordinarily choose to have that doctor continue to be the one who treats you when you make a claim under workers’ compensation.
Or, if you do not currently have an established doctor relationship, you can see a doctor or other healthcare professional of your choice when you are being diagnosed with a workplace injury, illness, or medical condition.
Matters can become more complicated, however, if your employer exercises its right under workers’ compensation to have you undergo an examination by a doctor it chooses. This is especially so if you see that doctor again, in which case you might establish an attending physician relationship with that doctor.
Who is an Attending Physician?
Under workers’ compensation, your attending physician is the doctor or healthcare professional with whom you establish a client or patient relationship with. This can be your primary care physician, or another doctor you choose.
In some cases, your attending physician can be the doctor your employer chooses for its otherwise one-time-only examination of you. This can happen automatically under workers’ compensation if you see that doctor a second time. If you do not pay this second visit, then the employer’s chosen doctor will not become your attending physician and you can choose your own.
Self-Insured Employers and Attending Physicians
One exception to your ability to choose your own attending physician is if your employer does not participate in workers compensation but is self-insured instead. In this situation, your self-insured employer may have doctors of its own who are on file with the Industrial Commission of Arizona, or the ICA. If that is the case, then this doctor will automatically become your attending physician for all medical care.
If you are unsure if your employer participates in Arizona workers’ compensation or is self-insured, you can call the ICA Claims Division at (602) 542-4661 for help.
Distinguish Insurance Carrier Independent Medical Examinations
Aside from your employer’s one-time right to have you undergo a medical examination, your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier also has the right to have you periodically examined by a doctor of its choice.
This is called an independent medical examination. The insurance carrier must pay for your travel expenses (mileage and living expenses) for such an appointment.
The carrier can use this doctor’s opinion to change the status of your claim.
If you believe you are being unfairly requested to attend an independent medical examination, we can help you file a Motion for Protective Order with the ICA. This will require an administrative law judge to decide if you must attend the exam.
Can I Change My Attending Physician?
The short answer to this question is, yes. The next issues we explore are, “Why you might want to” and, “How you can do it.”
Before we get to those issues, though, a word of caution: you should always have your work-related injury, illness, or condition treated by a healthcare provider that the workers’ comp insurance company has approved. If you receive treatment outside of this approval, it may not be covered by workers’ compensation and could complicate your attending physician’s treatment plan for you.
Reasons to Choose Your Attending Physician
Your relationship with your doctor can be vital to your health and deeply personal as well. Your doctor will know details about you that you will not want to share freely with others. The better, and longer, your patient-doctor relationship is, the more likely it is that your doctor will make the best decisions about your treatment of a work-related injury, illness, or medical condition.
Another consideration is that, because your employer pays for the physician who will do its one-time exam of you and who might become your attending physician in a subsequent visit, how sure can you be that this doctor will have your best interests in mind compared to the employer’s? When you choose your own attending physician, you can reduce this potential source of doubt.
If you do not agree with the diagnosis of the doctor that your employer hires to examine you, then you can make a written request to the workers’ compensation insurance carrier to approve a second opinion.
How to Change Your Attending Physician
There are advantages to establishing an attending physician relationship as soon as possible in connection with your workers compensation claim. One reason is that it promotes efficiency and personalization in your treatment. Another is that it is easier for the workers’ compensation insurance company to work with one attending physician than multiple ones who may not see you regularly.
Still, situations can arise when you want to switch to a different attending physician. Arizona workers’ compensation allows for three ways this can happen.
Your Attending Physician Refers You to Another Healthcare Professional
Sometimes your attending physician will decide that your treatment needs require a medical professional with experience in another field, or a medical specialist.
You Request a Change of Attending Physician
There may be one or more reasons why, once your attending physician relationship is established, you may decide that you would prefer a different one.
If your current attending physician accepts your change of physician request, then you can proceed.
Sometimes, your present attending physician might oppose your change request. In this case, you can make a written request to the workers’ comp insurance carrier to make the change.
You Request ICA Reconsideration of a Denied Change Request
If you request a new attending physician, and both your current attending physician and the insurance company oppose your request, then you can resort to the ICA through a written request to approve your change request.
Talk to a Phoenix Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Today
At the Matt Fendon Law Group, our highly skilled Arizona workers’ compensation lawyers are ready to help you with all aspects of your workers’ compensation claim, including the choice of your attending physician.
If you need help making a request to change your attending physician, or you are encountering resistance from your current attending physician or the workers’ comp insurance company concerning your change request, then we can help.
Call us today at (800) 229-3880 to schedule a confidential, free consultation with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer in Phoenix. Or, if you prefer, you can contact us online to ask a question or to schedule a free consultation.
We have offices in Phoenix, Prescott, Flagstaff, Scottsdale, and Tucson. Let us show you how we can help you with your Phoenix workers’ comp case. We will provide straightforward advice and help you understand your legal options.
Members of the editorial and news staff of Law&Crime were not involved in the creation of this content.
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