How Long Do I Have to See a Doctor After a Work Injury

The short answer here is no. There’s no technical deadline in the law for when you have to get medical attention after an injury at work, but don’t let that reality mislead you. It does matter how quickly you get help. There are quite a few reasons why it’s a good idea to see a doctor as soon as possible.

First, and most importantly, if you get medical help quickly, this will be best for your health and prevent an injury from getting worse. It also gives you the best shot at a fast recovery. But from a legal standpoint, there are also important reasons why you need to see a doctor as soon as possible. Once you see a doctor, you are beginning the process of establishing a timeline that links your injuries to the accident in question. The sooner you see a doctor after the accident, the stronger that link will be.

When you delay, you make it easier for someone to claim that your injury was not related to the work accident or is not as serious as you claim. In the end, this could lead to long disputes over your workers’ comp claim or even total denial of benefits. The upshot is this: your medical records will be the backbone to your claim, showing what caused your injury, how severe it was, and what treatment was needed to get you back to health. You don’t want to jeopardize this.

Not all injuries manifest with immediate symptoms. There are obviously delays with what’s known as “occupational diseases,” like carpal tunnel syndrome or hearing loss, but you might be surprised to know there can be a delay even in an acute injury. For example, if an injury at work causes you internal bleeding, you might not have any idea that that’s going on for a couple of hours. Even a serious fracture can sometimes be masked by the adrenaline that starts coursing through your system after an accident.

But whatever your injury, the time limit on reporting it doesn’t begin until you either know that the injury was related to work or you should have known it. With an accident, this is usually pretty straightforward.

Minnesota law does give you some freedom to choose the doctor you want for a work injury. It does matter who sees you, though, because the opinion of your doctor and the way they choose to report the injury could have a serious influence on how your claim is ultimately handled.

However, there are a few things that you want to bear in mind. First, your employer or their insurance company may require you to get an independent medical examination, or IME. This doesn’t stop you from getting treated by your own primary doctor, but if they make this request, you will have to comply. This is essentially third-party verification of the extent and prognosis for your injuries. Another thing to know is that if your employer has a certified managed care plan, you might be restricted to only doctors within that network. You’ll have to check with your employer to see if this applies in your case.

Once you have reported your injury and seen a doctor, the law allows you all “reasonable and necessary” medical treatment, and you should not have to fear not getting proper compensation for these. So long as it meets the standard of reasonable and necessary, you should expect to be covered for doctor visits, transportation to the hospital and your stay there, surgery, any medications you require, and physical therapy.

You should even expect reimbursement for the mileage you have to travel to and from doctors’ appointments, and your lawyer can tell you more about what’s right to expect and to ask for.

It’s not uncommon for either an employer or an insurer to dispute your injuries or some aspect of your claim. Insurers will often deny payment if they believe a treatment was unnecessary or claim that a condition is not actually work related. It’s also fairly common for an employer to disagree with your doctor’s assessment about how your work should be restricted as you recover. If you’re having a problem with the dispute, your first step should be to talk to an experienced lawyer. Your lawyer will help you to communicate and negotiate and prevent you from being bullied in this regard.

Your lawyer can also help you with the various stages that have been set up to help workers and employers deal with these claims. You may end up in mediation, where you’re negotiating with your employer’s insurance company with the help of a neutral third-party. If that doesn’t work out, you may have an administrative conference, which is much like a court hearing but more informal and allows both you and the insurer to make your cases before a workers’ compensation judge. If that doesn’t work, there may be a full hearing and presentation of evidence before a judge, who will then make a binding decision.