If you have been injured at work and you have gone to see a personal injury attorney, they may want you to have an independent orthopedic evaluation on top of seeing the records that your doctor may have sent with you to give to your attorney. There are several reasons that your attorney will send you to see an orthopedic specialist that isn't affiliated with either you or them.
Objectivity
One reason is that the independent medical evaluator is going to be objective. Because they don't have an ongoing relationship with you, the doctor is going to be able to be blunt and honest in their evaluation, based on their physical examination of you and looking at what your medical records say. That's not to say that your regular doctor isn't going to be honest with you, but if you have a good working relationship with them, they may soften their diagnosis and prognosis somewhat so that it isn't as worrisome to you. That objectivity can also help when it comes to the court and dealing with insurance companies because there isn't any worry that any kind of prior relationship with your doctor is going to color the orthopedic specialist's medical findings.
Better Examination
Another reason that your attorney may want you to see an independent medical expert is that they may be more experienced than your primary care physician or the orthopedic doctor you were able to see on your own, for whatever reason. A doctor who has more experience is going to have seen more things over their career and are going to be able to give you a better examination because they will have a better idea of all the things that could be a problem.
Independent Confirmation
Your attorney may want to have independent confirmation of your doctor's findings, especially if the findings are things about permanent disability or some kind of injury that is really rare. Sending you to another doctor to check you out will allow your attorney to get that confirmation, which will help when it comes time to go to court or when it's time to negotiate with the insurance companies.
If you have been injured at work, there are a lot of things that you need to do. One of them is to see an attorney. They may send you to another orthopedic specialist so that there is an independent evaluation of your injury and your prognosis.
Share22 December 2020
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