Can I Choose Which Doctor Treats Me After My Workplace Injury?
There’s no single, straightforward answer to that question. Generally, your employer’s insurance company will dictate which doctors you see when you have an accepted workers’ compensation claim. While you may prefer to see your family physician or another doctor of your choosing, this isn’t always possible. If you’ve been injured on the job, it is your employer’s legal responsibility to provide medical treatment. That also means the employer’s insurance company can send you to a qualified doctor of their choosing for treatment. You can ask N.C. Industrial Commission for permission to see a different doctor or get a second opinion, but the rules for changing doctors are very strict. Recent legislation has made the process of switching doctors even more complicated. The insurance company has the right to choose your workers’ compensation doctor except in these circumstances: - You require emergency medical treatment. - Your employer refuses to send you to a doctor. - The insurance compan...