How to Find the Right Doctor After an Auto Accident

Are you looking for a car accident doctor? Do you want peace of mind that you’ll get care and support for injuries resulting from an auto accident? You can get effective short- and long-term care to aid your recovery when you know how to choose the right doctor.

There are many factors to consider when looking for a doctor after an auto accident. Read on to learn how to find the right doctor after a car accident.

Choosing the Right Doctor After a Car Accident

Exploring your options is a great first step in finding the right doctor after a car accident. You can look online and make a few consultation appointments to see which doctor would be the right fit for your needs. During your internet search, you can look for information like years of experience, testimonials and services.

Once you find a few possible doctors, you can request an appointment or contact the office to learn more. The doctor will likely ask about your accident date, attorney, insurance details and accident report. You may also discuss treatment options and payment plans. You’ll also want to ensure that the doctor is part of a healthcare system that includes all of the potential services you may need including diagnostic imaging, neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedic care and surgery, and rehabilitation.

Some doctors do not treat car accident injuries because they do not want to be asked to testify in court or because they do not want to or are not able to bill auto insurance companies, so working with your lawyer can be an effective strategy for finding a doctor.

4 Tips for Finding a Doctor After a Car Accident

When you find a suitable auto injury doctor, you can get proper treatment and properly file your insurance claim. Here’s how you can find the right doctor for car accident treatment:

1. Take Action Quickly

When accidents happen, you want to schedule an injury screening quickly. Seeking immediate medical attention from a properly licensed auto injury doctor after your accident means you can receive the proper care and compensation for your injuries. The laws for filing injury claims under your personal injury protection (PIP) insurance can vary depending on your state.

For example, if you’re in an automobile accident in Florida, even if the accident is your fault, you must get treatment for your injuries within 14 days of your accident to claim from your personal injury protection insurance benefits. If you wait 15 or more days following your accident, no matter if the accident is your fault or the fault of someone else, your personal injury protection insurance benefits will no longer be available to you to pay for your necessary healthcare services.

While you may not experience any pain immediately after your accident, injuries from soft tissue damage can flare up at any time. If you do not get suitable medical treatment within two weeks of your accident, you will forfeit claiming under your personal injury protection insurance benefits for that accident forever.

2. You May Need to Avoid Relying on Your Primary Care Doctor

Finding the right doctor to examine and treat your injuries helps ensure a successful recovery. While your general practitioner or family doctor can treat certain medical conditions, car accident doctors focus on treating car accident-specific injuries such as those to the spine, muscles, joints and ligaments. Your family care doctor could miss or mistreat injuries or prescribe medication that numbs symptoms without treating the root of the problem.

Auto accident doctors also accept Personal Injury Protection insurance coverage from automobile insurance companies to help cover the cost of auto accident medical bills. Family doctors usually do not accept personal injury protection insurance because they are not set up to accept that type of insurance coverage, nor do they often accept third-party billing. Your insurance may cover the initial visit but would probably not cover subsequent visits should you need them. This means if you go to a family care doctor immediately and then experience pain later and seek alternative care, you may need to pay out of pocket for the additional treatment.

3. See an Injury Specialist

Depending on your injury, you may require specialist treatment. Specialists like orthopedists and neurosurgeons offer treatment for various injury areas. They can also provide short- and long-term care plans and aid you in your recovery process.

Insurance companies can and should check and validate medical records at any time. Your medical history should provide comprehensive accident and injury information. Here’s some information that your medical record can include:

  • List of injuries from your accident
  • Medical tests performed
  • List of post-accident medical procedures — like X-rays and scans
  • List of specific treatments and evaluation before surgery
  • Long-term medical needs
  • Surgeries performed
  • Preexisting conditions
  • The effects of your injuries on employment, lifestyle, daily activities and routine.

4. Share Before and After Symptoms

Sharing updates on your recovery process and injury conditions help ensure relevant information is properly available and utilized during any litigation or insurance claim process that may create a need for such information.

Each time you visit your doctor, you must detail your recovery progress, including injury symptoms before and after treatment. Your doctor will document preexisting conditions and recovery progress as well.

Insurance companies can verify your injuries and treatment plans by evaluating your symptoms before and after receiving treatment. They can also see the amount of care you require for damages, the time you spend in treatment and the effects of the accident on your daily life.

Go into detail with your doctor about your medical information so that they can provide comprehensive, accurate and timely records of your injuries and treatments.

The Importance of Keeping up With Post-Treatment Care

It takes time to fully recover from injuries resulting from car accidents. Doctors can prescribe a uniquely tailored treatment plan specific to your injuries to help you in your recovery.

By following a medical care plan tailored to your specific needs, you can heal faster and help minimize their effects on your life while carefully documenting the full extent of your injuries. Deviating from a specifically tailored and prescribed treatment plan can hinder recovery, and missing treatment appointments can make it seem as though you are well and thus negatively affect your potential claims if someone else is responsible for your injuries.

Choose Complete Care After an Auto Accident

At Complete Care, our doctors can provide multidisciplinary treatment for your car accident injuries. You get comprehensive medical treatment to aid you in your recovery, and we offer customized short- and long-term care programs to treat your injury areas. We also provide extensive medical records to help support your insurance claims.

If you’ve been in a car accident resulting in injury, contact us to get started with Complete Care.

Disclaimer

The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information. This website contains links to other third-party websites. Such links are only for the convenience of the reader, user or browser.

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