Personal Injury Claims:  Beyond the Basics

            Once the medical treatment process is underway, it is vitally important to understand how the treatment process is utilized in during claims and in litigation.  In order to document a claim, medical records are submitted to the insurance company for evaluation.   Insurance companies typically have their adjusters review the medical records, searching for information that they can use to attempt to reduce the amount of money that the company will offer to settle your claim.   It is critically important to your claim that you not unwittingly say or do something that the insurance company or its lawyers could use to argue against paying you money to settle your claim or to reduce the amount that they offer. 

            Remember, doctors, nurses and therapists are extremely busy people.  They have enormous case loads.  Often times, they rush between examination rooms.   These health care professionals are often times wonderful people who have your well-being at the core of why they have chosen their careers.  Don't forget, though, that they are human.   Humans make mistakes. 

            When you visit the hospital, doctor or therapist's office, please make sure that you clearly and concisely state the parts of your body that have symptoms, what the problems are and how you are doing.   The longer it takes you to explain, the greater likelihood for confusion and the greater the chance that the doctor, nurse, or therapist will write something down incorrectly.   Incorrect office notes in your medical records can have devastating consequences on your case and dramatically reduce the insurance company's settlement valuation.    So, keep it short and keep it simple!  You want your medical records to be as accurate as possible.

            During follow up treatment, doctors, nurses and therapists commonly ask, "How are you getting along?"  They will also use a pain scale.  The pain scale is a method to get a patient to describe the severity of their pain by using numbers on a scale of zero to ten, with the lower numbers representing little to no pain and the greater the number representing more severe pain.   You should try to be as accurate as possible.  Don't ever overstate or exaggerate your pain and don't understate it either.  Rating your pain can be a  difficult process because every person's perception and tolerance for pain is different.   If you have a high pain tolerance and you are asked to rate your pain, you may also want to explain that you have a high pain tolerance.  This will help your medical provider more fully understand your condition.

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