Personal Injury
3 ways Chiropractic Care can help your personal injury claim.
Despite the many types of personal injuries, all personal injury claims have one thing in common: they are accidents that happen due to the negligence of someone else. With this in mind, not all injuries are identical, and some injuries are best treated by a chiropractor who specializes in personal injury.
In fact, beyond treating the injury, there are three ways that a chiropractor can actually help with the personal injury claim itself.
1- Thorough Documentation of Chiropractic Treatment Improves your Chances for a Full and Favorable Settlement
Whether you are injured in a car accident or suffer childbirth injuries to your pelvis and need chiropractic care, you will want the defendant to pay for all of these medical expenses. However, because trials and settlements take time, you may need to seek out chiropractic care before the case goes to trial. Just because you received medical care doesn’t necessarily mean the jury will deem it as “medically necessary.” A good chiropractor can treat you AND fulfill the necessary steps to help you receive a favorable settlement.
Personal injury claims are not likely to be settled without the proper documentation showing that your chiropractic care was a reasonable and necessary medical expense. The staff of professionals at Pure Functional Medicine understand the importance of the following documentation:
Detailed medical charts, listing the extent and severity of each and every symptom: This is especially important because not every symptom appears immediately after an accident. Even if you “felt fine” after an accident, the proper documentation connects your injury to the accident.
Any and all treatment provided to the patient: It is not sufficient for insurance companies just to see that chiropractic services were rendered. It must be clear that services were medically necessarily as a direct result of the personal injury, and detailed records do just that.
Accurate and detailed billing information, including the date, cost of each treatment, or office visit: TN laws state that personal injury claims must be filed within 1 years of an injury. Accurate billing shows that services rendered were related to the injury and medical care was sought in a timely fashion.
2- Working with Insurance Companies
Sustaining an injury is never pleasant, but dealing with the logistics of insurance and receiving treatment quickly is just additional stress. Working with chiropractors experienced with personal injury claims can help relieve the stress of worrying about out-of-pocket expenses. Advanced Back & Neck understands this and works with insurance companies to make sure that the patient’s care is the first priority, not billing headaches. Advanced Back & Neck accomplishes this by:
Billing the insurance company directly: just be sure to bring the police report and/or the insurance information of the at-fault driver
Logging detailed notes about all injuries and visits
3- Chiropractic Counsel Leads to More Timely Claims
Any injury you sustain due to the negligence of another is considered a personal injury, and that could include medical malpractice, product defect injuries, or workplace injuries. However, not all of those injuries are best treated by a chiropractor. For instance, a surgical error to the skin is best treated by a plastic surgeon, but a surgical error to the musculoskeletal system can be treated by a chiropractor. A personal injury chiropractor can help your personal injury claim by advising which, if any, of your injuries, can be treated and what the best course of action is.
It’s important to know that even if you do not feel pain immediately, it is still vital to check in with your chiropractor. The extent of certain injuries is not always immediately apparent, and immediate care prevents delays in your healing as well as your claim. For instance, if you self-treat with pain medication, you may be masking an injury to misaligned vertebrae. Seeking counsel within 24-72 hours after an accident improves the outcome of your healing as well as ensuring that a timely claim is made. Remember that if you wait too long and realize too late that you need chiropractic care, the statute of limitations prohibits you from filing a claim.
Contact us today at 423-354-0100 Pure Functional Medicine is on your side.
