Understanding Workers' Comp Doctors and DOT Physicals
When you get injured, you first and foremost need to see a workers' comp doctor. However, if the injury occurred in the workplace, you shouldn’t choose just any available doctor. Instead, opt for someone who knows how the worker’s compensation system works. Remember that employees are entitled to worker’s compensation benefits. But without a specialized workers compensation doctor, it may be difficult to get the right medical treatment.
Now, while it’s a bit challenging to find a doctor who can treat and help your injury fully recover while preparing documents properly to see that you receive fair compensation, please don’t settle for one who cannot do these. It’s your doctor’s commitment that will help you navigate things through to get your worker’s comp benefits. Read on to learn more about the best doctor for workplace injuries.
Who Should Treat Me after a Workplace Injury?
If you were involved in an accident of any kind, choosing a qualified doctor should be your top priority. Visiting a doctor after an injury isn’t debatable whether or not you are feeling pain or discomfort at the moment.
Most people would first think of their primary care physician or family doctor. However, they may not be the best people since most of them aren’t experts in treating injuries related to accidents. Plus, they may not be accepting worker’s compensation insurance or medical liens.
Occupational Medicine
Your doctor should understand that a worker needs occupational medicine to remain healthy and productive. You can find such services in a local clinic that offers several corporate healthcare services. Note that a worker’s comp doctor works with the employee and their employer to help streamline the healing and compensation process for both parties.
Some of the services that occupational medicine offers include;
- Testing services for drug and alcohol
- Department of Transportation (DOT) tests
- Occupational physicals like examinations conducted before one returns to work and post-offer physicals
- Medical monitoring and surveillance, for instance, monitoring of the impact of environmental exposure, periodic HAZMAT and pulmonary function tests
- Urgent medical care for injuries that happen in the workplace like strains, falls, sprains, and minor lacerations
- Rehabilitation services
- Physical therapy
Look for a clinic that offers wellness programs and educates employees on injury prevention as well as the steps they should take to make sure that their occupational health is not at risk. Such clinics conduct the programs regularly in different workplace locations.
Plus, occupational medicine services are a bit cheaper even for the employer. For instance, if an injured worker gets treated at occupational medicine, they will pay around 1/3 of the total cost that they would pay for a local emergency room service.
Also, these clinics tend to have highly experienced staff that has knowledge of billing for worker’s compensation claims. As such, you can get your workers compensation claim filed correctly and promptly to the insurance carrier.
Tip: check Workers Comp Doctors TV.com for suggestions on the best treating doctor treating injuries and dealing with worker’s compensation benefits. Note that while there are many authorized treating physician directories, not all of them offer doctors who specialize in workers' comp claims. Look for a directory with doctors and other professionals like attorneys, case managers, adjusters, etc., with experience in worker’s compensation cases.
Who’s a Worker’s Compensation Doctor?
A worker’s comp doctor takes worker’s comp cases. They take part in Workers Compensation MCO’s, Plans and Networks, and can evaluate and treat workplace or work-related injuries. Note that all doctors don’t accept worker’s comp cases, which is why you need to find one who specializes and has experience in this field.
Workers compensation doctors do what other regular doctors do, only that they offer their services to injured workers. They aim to give the right medical treatment an injured worker and get them back in shape to work again.
How to Find a Workers' Comp Doctor Near You
If you’re looking for a workers' compensation doctor near me, you can use a National Worker’s Compensation directory. Such a site will have different doctors, which you can browse by location, network participation, availability, specialty, and even price, depending on the site you’re using. You are allowed care and workers' compensation benefits for your injuries per workers compensation law at least up to maximum medical improvement! This is true even of your injury requires surgery.
What Workers' Compensation Doctors Are in the Directory?
Well, you can find almost all types of doctors, such as orthopedic doctors for workplace injuries, those who help workers manage pain, etc. If the directory you are using allows, you can filter the specific type you are looking for.
What Is a Workers' Compensation Case?
It’s a compensation claim or workers compensation case that occurs when an employee gets injured in the work environment or when performing a task on behalf of their employer. OSHA defines a workplace injury or illness to be caused or contributed by exposure to or an event in the workplace environment. If this exposure also aggravated a worker’s previous injury, they are also entitled to workplace benefits.
Can You Get a Second Opinion on Workers Comp?
If you don’t feel content with the judgment that was made on your worker’s comp case, you can go ahead and seek a second opinion, depending on your state. However, you’ll have to pay the parties involved, like your attorney. If you’re not sure, let your employer, attorney, or insurance adjuster clarify things for you.
How Are Work Comp Doctors Paid?
Worker’s compensation doctors are responsible for treating and filing a patient’s work-related injuries. They are usually paid by the Worker’s Compensation Insurance. However, where the payment comes from varies in different states and depends on the size of the employer and whether or not he/she has self-insurance.
Can I Change My Workers' Compensation Doctor?
Most employer’s insurances have a list of worker’s comp doctors that employees should choose from. If you are happy with a doctor’s services, we recommend sticking with them until your case is finalized and you’ve fully recovered.
However, you can still change your worker’s comp doctor, but this depends on the state you are in. Some states like New York allow employees to change their designated doctor after thirty days. But, the new treating doctor must be certified by the Worker’s Compensation Board.
Find out from your state’s law whether you can or cannot change your worker’s compensation doctor.
Is Workman’s Comp Same as Workers' Comp?
Yes, these phrases are used interchangeably to mean the same thing; insurance that gives employees some benefits if/when they suffer from work-related injuries. This insurance caters to an injured employee’s medical bills and wages from the time he/she was not working.
Now, different states have different worker’s compensation benefits, which is why you need to check your state to know what workers compensation benefits you are entitled to. However, worker’s comp isn’t only for employees, it can also benefit the employer as it covers employee illness and injury and protects them from lawsuits while ensuring that they are compliant with state regulations.
Note that when an employee accepts worker’s comp benefits, they agree not to sue their employer for negligence. The compensation bargain protects both the employee and employer. Since, although the employer won’t be sued by the employee, they will also agree to pay a certain liability amount to avoid lawsuits, which can cause greater damages to the company.
In the event that a worker dies due the illness or injuries got from the workplace, the worker’s compensation pays their family members or other dependents.
Do Workers Comp Doctors Accept Out of State Insurance?
Well, this depends on the doctor. He/she may or may not accept. You can use the Worker’s Comp Doctors TV.com directory to filter out doctors accepting out-of-state insurance.
How to Get Evaluated by a Workers Comp Doctor
If you’ve found a worker’s compensation doctor, you can directly visit them to get an evaluation of your injury. However, some states may need you to get permitted by the worker’s comp insurance adjuster or your employer before you get evaluated. Therefore, check with your state on the laws concerning workplace injury evaluation.
What Fees Do Workers' Compensation Charge?
Well, this depends on the doctor and their practice. Of course, your doctor needs payment for rendering the medical treatment for your injury. But, they can also charge for the time they spent to prepare and give testimony for your case as well. You can, however, request a health care provider to send you their fee schedules before working with them. Sometime your will require an independent medical exam by a qualified health care provider or authorized treating physician also known as an attending physician.
Where Can a Doctor Get Workers' Compensation for Marketing Their Practice?
As a doctor, it’s vital that you market your worker’s compensation practice. Note that marketing makes people aware of the service you offer and it’s an opportunity to outshine your competition.
So what is worker’s compensation marketing for doctors? It’s a way doctors use to get referrals and more customers to use their worker’s compensation services. Individuals can use several ways to market themselves. However, the strategies will depend on the state they are in.
Why Should a Doctor Practice Workers Compensation Marketing?
- To Diversify Their Income
Most doctors get their clients from one or two of these sources; Medicare, personal injury, Medicaid, or Auto. Now, if these sources dried up, it would be a problem to many doctors as it would mean a reduction in the number of customers. It’s why you should have different referral sources.
Now that you can’t fully rely on Medicare and Medicaid payments, taking up worker’s compensation cases can be a great way of diversifying your income. By offering worker’s compensation services, your patients’ scope will increase, meaning your medical practice will likely survive should there be a drop in the number of patients from your current source.
- You’ll Have a Job All Year Round
Many states have peak and off-peak seasons. This also applies to the medical field. There are times a doctor will have more patients than other times. However, note that worker’s comp patients aren’t seasonal. They are all year round. Therefore, you’ll always have a supply of new patients, whether it’s high or low seasons.
- Help Patients Get Back to Work
Sure, many people focus on the financial benefits of their practice. But if you care about your patients, it can be so rewarding and satisfying to help them get back to work. Most times, workers don’t get paid a large amount from the worker’s compensation benefits. So, most of them would want to recover and get back to work, although this isn’t always the case. If you are a talented doctor, you can help them navigate their way back to work.
DOT Physicals and CDL Exams Near Me
The US has many certified DOT and CDL Medical Examiners. However, locating them is a bit challenging. As such, it becomes difficult for fleet operators and professional drivers to get qualified medical examiners, and when they do, they can’t offer recommendations or feedback about their experience with them as that is also another challenge.
But thanks to WorkersCompDoctorsTV.com, you can easily locate and contact these examiners, regardless of the state they are in. And also, you can provide feedback on your experience working with them to help other people seeking such services.
WorkersCompDoctorsTV.com directory is a huge platform with certified providers who offer DOT and CDL Exams online. You can use this site to find out a provider’s current information, including their services and location, and read or write referrals of your experience working with them.
What’s Workers Compensation Doctors TV for Exam Locations?
Now, although DOT and CDL medical exams have been offered to professional drivers for a long time, most of the providers were not certified. But recently, the law made it mandatory for anyone offering DOT and CDL exams to be certified. Because of the strict certification process, most providers didn’t make it through, which led to a drop from 440,000 to only 40000 medical providers.
You can find DOT and CDL exams in specific medical centers like the traditional DOT and CDL exam locations, occupational medicine providers, primary care offices that you can either walk-in or schedule an appointment, and retail clinics.
But, most of these clinics are owned and operated by individuals or a small group of physicians, which becomes hard locating them or even find accurate information about them.
Thankfully, the WorkersCompDoctorsTV.com directory simplifies things for patients who need this service. Individuals can use this free online service to search and find DOT and CDL medical providers from the over 11000 available ones. The good thing about this site is that all information is verified, and they are constantly updating new information so that consumers can read reviews and rate a location based on their experience.
DOT Physicals
If you operate a commercial motor vehicle (CMV), you are required to take the DOT physical exam to continue being certified. The Department of Transportation (DOT) considers drivers operating CMV vehicles of five or more tons as safety-sensitive. This means that they affect their own safety, as well as that of the public.
As such, these drivers must provide physical examination results periodically. Otherwise, they will be stopped from working as they will be non-compliant. Your DOT physical exam can be performed by a qualified Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) medical examiner. These examinations follow specific guidelines for CMV drivers to ensure that a person can work safely and healthily.
What Do DOT Physicals Consist Of?
The medical provider will evaluate, measure, and test different things like your;
Vision- DOT requires all drivers to have acuity of at least 20/40 in each eye, that is, when not using any lenses. Additionally, they must have a minimum of 70% percent peripheral vision along the horizontal meridian in each eye.
Pulse Rate and Blood Pressure- the provider will check your levels of systolic and diastolic pressure and test for irregular heart rate. Your blood pressure should not be more than 140/90. However, if it is more than this level but less than 180/110, you may get certified for a shorter interval. But this will depend on various things like whether it’s your first certification or a re-certification and an examiner’s discretion.
Urinalysis- this will detect any underlying condition like diabetes.
Hearing- a driver should hear a false whisper at a distance of 5ft whether or not they are wearing a hearing aid. This is equal to a hearing of less than 40 dB in the better ear.
Also, note that physical examination will cover:
- Eyes to check for glaucoma, cataracts, and any other eye disease
- Ears to determine whether your eardrums are perforated or have any other ear problem
- Mouth and throat to see whether you can breathe and swallow comfortably
- Limb- for extreme impairment
- Any spine and musculoskeletal issue
- Heart rate and rhythm
- Pulse rate and the wellness of your vascular system
- Lungs and chest- for abnormal breathing and other respiratory issues
- Any issues in the abdomen such as enlarged liver or viscera
- Hernia
- Neurological conditions like speech patterns and impaired equilibrium
What Medical Conditions Can Disqualify a Driver?
- Epilepsy- that causes seizures, even if they are not happening currently.
- If he/she doesn’t meet the minimum vision and hearing standards that we’ve listed above.
- Diabetes that needs you to use insulin. But if you have a permit from the Federal government, you may be safe.
- A history of alcoholism.
- Impairment on your limb or arm that interferes with your driving or other tasks related to driving. But you can be exempted if you have a Skills Performance Certificate.
If your vision and hearing are below the minimum standard or you are using insulin to manage your diabetes, you can apply for an exemption through the Federal Diabetes and Vision Exemption Program. Also, note that some medicines may disqualify you. These include methadone, narcotic, amphetamine, or any other habit-forming drug.
Workers' Comp and DOT Physicals
Commercial drivers need a medical certification, which requires a work comp provider to prepare and complete a driver’s medical history in a report form. You can visit occupational medicine centers near you for an evaluation of your medical history by a workers' comp doctor. Your provider will do a visual evaluation and, if need be, refer you to further testing and diagnosis
