STOCKTON WORKERS’ COMPENSATION ATTORNEYS WITH PROVEN RESULTS

A workers’ compensation attorney’s job is to represent an injured employee in their workers’ compensation claim. The Stockton workers’ compensation attorneys will answer our client’s questions and provide relevant information so our clients understand their rights. We will also aid our clients with filing and or amending their workers’ compensation claims. Our attorneys communicate with our client’s healthcare providers to acquire essential medical documentation. Hiring a Stockton workers’ compensation attorney will make the workers’ compensation process much smoother and more straightforward. Our workers’ compensation attorneys will help you through the whole process and are there for you every step of the way.

After you have been injured on the job, you must report your injury to your employer as soon as possible. Once you have disclosed your injury, your employer must provide you with a DWC1 form. You can also obtain the form on the Department of Workers’ Compensation website. Reporting your injury to your employer and correctly completing the DWC1 form will also help you protect your workers’ compensation rights. If you need help filling out the DWC1 form, a Stockton workers’ compensation attorney can help you. You must complete the DWC1 form as soon as possible to ensure your claim is completed on time.

Our Stockton workers’ compensation lawyers will help you obtain the benefits you deserve, including medical care, temporary disability benefits, permanent disability benefits, supplemental disability benefits, or death benefits. Our first step will be to get the insurance carrier to admit that your claim is work-related and provide those benefits to you. If they deny that your claim is work-related or deny benefits, we will take action under the labor code and before a workers’ compensation judge to see that you receive the benefits you deserve.

Workers’ compensation insurance carriers will use obstacles to avoid providing injured employees with the medical treatment they deserve. The Stockton workers’ compensation attorneys are very familiar with these tactics and have a proven track record of fighting those strategies for our clients. Sometimes, the solution can be as simple as working with your treating physician to complete the paperwork correctly to get your medical treatment. Other times, a utilization review, independent medical review, or getting the workers’ compensation judge involved are required to get the necessary medical treatment. 

Most workers’ compensation insurance carriers require injured employees to see a physician in their Medical Provider Network. A Medical Provider Network is a group of physicians approved to treat work-related injuries by an employer’s workers’ compensation insurance company. Choosing the right doctor in the workers’ compensation system can be critical to your case’s success. It is essential to find a balance of a doctor willing to fill out the paperwork correctly so that your treatments get approved and find a competent doctor capable of giving you quality medical care. Too often, people choose a doctor who is good at one or the other but not both, and the Stockton workers’ compensation lawyers can help you find a doctor who can do both.  

Employees injured at work are entitled to receive appropriate medical care under the Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule, also known as medical treatment guidelines. Medical treatment guidelines are rules for determining reasonable and necessary medical care based on evidence-based medicine. Primary treating physicians use the medical treatment utilization schedule to guide conservative care. While traditional care is often successful, sometimes more aggressive care is necessary and needs to be requested. The Stockton workers’ compensation attorneys work with the primary treating physicians to ask for additional medical treatment when needed. 

Employers and their workers’ compensation insurance carriers will often require an injured employee to review a utilization to decide if the employee is requesting medical treatment is needed. Often, employers will request utilization reviews to deny necessary treatment. The utilization review process continually increases burdens on primary treating physicians to be overly meticulous when ordering medications. Utilization review doctors will use any mistake or failure to check everything on their list as a reason to deny treatment. Sometimes the solution is as easy as going back to the treating physician and checking the appropriate box. The Stockton workers’ compensation lawyers try to work with the doctors to make sure that they are accurately requesting what the utilization review doctor is requiring. 

If an injured employee was denied treatment after a utilization review, you and your Stockton workers’ compensation attorney could request an Independent Medical Review. An independent medical professional will review medical records and other documentation surrounding your injury and determine if the medical treatment requested is necessary. The Stockton workers’ compensation attorneys can help determine if you are eligible to request an Independent Medical Review and aid you in filing the petition for an Independent Medical Review. 

The professional attorneys at Stockton workers’ compensation attorneys have seen all types of workers’ compensation injuries over the last 25 years. Our Stockton workers’ compensation attorneys see the most common injuries to our client’s back, shoulder, head, neck, knee, foot, ankle, or elbow. Our knowledgeable attorneys can help you determine if your injury was work-related, mainly if it resulted from repeated trauma or due to an occupational injury. We also have extensive experience representing families whose loved ones die due to work-related injuries and can help them through a wrongful death claim.   

The Stockton workers’ compensation lawyers know the countless causes of workers’ compensation accidents. Certain professions often lend themselves to higher injury rates, so you must have a workers’ compensation attorney that you trust. The most common are construction accidents, industrial accidents, warehouse accidents, and trucking accidents. We also have clients who worked as firefighters and police officers who suffered catastrophic injuries.