#3 MISTAKE: Your patient not having a medical provider coordinating their care following an accident

QUESTION: What is the most important thing a patient can do when getting treatment from multiple medical providers for the care they receive following a car accident?​

ANSWER: Having a single healthcare professional coordinating your patient’s care when they’re being treated by multiple providers after a car accident is critical to your patient’s medical expenses being paid and to protect their claim. Coordination of care ensures effective treatment management, preventing depletion of PIP benefits before your patient is done treating, and maintains consistency in medical records, supporting a smoother recovery and personal injury claim process.

Your patient not having a medical provider coordinating their care is the third biggest mistake they can make in getting the medical treatment they need following a car accident.

When a medical provider works in a clinic where there are other providers, such as an acupuncturist, chiropractor, massage therapist, or a naturopath —  there is typically someone within the clinic coordinating each patient’s treatment plan. The problem is when a patient is seeing various medical providers in different clinics and offices who don’t work together no one has that oversight.

It can be difficult for your patient to see the downside of not having one provider who is in charge of their overall care.

They may be going to different providers because of prior relationships and the loyalty they feel towards their providers.

One provider may be close to home and the other may be near their work. The patient likely views the situation that their providers’ treatments are helping them get better and so they view the way they’ve arranged their care as positive. These may seem like good reasons to your patient, but we rarely see this type of situation benefiting your patient when it comes to managing the complexity of treatment for a car accident and in managing a personal injury claim.

When there is not a provider coordinating your patient’s treatment, we often see their $15,000 PIP policy benefit depleted very quickly.

If there isn’t a healthcare professional coordinating your patient’s care, no one will know when your patient is getting close to their PIP maximum until likely when it’s too late.

We’ve also written a brief article for your patients that provides more detailed information about why it’s critical to protect their rights and their personal injury claim to have a medical provider coordinating their care and treatments.

If you are comfortable talking to them about how they can take the best possible care of their personal injury claim, following are several points that you can cover with them that will help their claim.

Your patient having a full recovery as soon as possible is what’s most important. If their PIP benefit is exhausted, continuing their treatment from their car accident can be very difficult. When patients have to begin paying for their medical treatment out of pocket, this is typically when they stop getting the medical treatment they really need or they greatly reduce their care.

Helping your patient understand the importance of having one medical provider coordinating their care will benefit all medical providers treating your patient because someone will be tracking their PIP benefit usage. This way all providers will be paid for their services — and most of all, it’s going to benefit your patient by ensuring they get the medical treatment they need to have a full recovery from their car accident.

Additionally, your patient may be answering questions that the other medical providers are not asking — which can cause problems with consistency in their chart notes — leading to the insurance company requiring an IME — or a less effective overall recovery.

You can help your patient with avoiding this pitfall by:

1. Asking them if they’re getting treatment from other providers for the recovery of their injuries from the car accident.
2. Letting them know they have a maximum PIP policy limit and that they need a designated a medical provider to act as the coordinator of their medical care.
3. Explaining that this will help them get the treatments they need without exhausting their PIP benefit.
4. Reducing the possibility of your patient having to go through an IME because of inconsistent chart notes.

We’re here to be a bridge of support for you and your patients.

We have developed a robust library of information for your patients who have been injured in an accident, which can be found in the INJURED? START HERE portal on our website.

There are 40 topic-focused articles, with accompanying videos, organized into the four categories that include the personal injury claim-related questions we’re asked most often, which include:

• Top 10 Personal Injury Claim Mistakes to Avoid
• What You Need to Know About Your Claim
• How Are My Medical Bills & Wage Loss Paid
• How to Prepare for Your Independent Medical Exam

Each article provides advice and guidelines to help your patients navigate each phase of the personal injury claims process. Whether we represent your patient or not, we are passionate about them knowing how to protect their rights, get the medical care they need, and avoid the mistakes that can harm their personal injury claim.

Each article provides advice and guidelines to help your patients navigate each phase of the personal injury claims process. Whether we represent your patient or not, we are passionate about them knowing how to protect their rights, get the medical care they need, and avoid the mistakes that can harm their personal injury claim.

Additionally, if it would be helpful to have the information we feature on our website available in your office to pass along to your patients, we’ve developed brochures for each of the four article series -- in both English and Spanish that we’re happy to send to your office. Please complete the form below and we’ll get them out to you promptly.