Your right to medical treatment is one of the most important benefits available to you under Georgia’s workers compensation law. Medical treatment with good doctors should help ensure that you make the best possible recovery from your injury.
So, many people want to know how they can treat with a good doctor in a workers compensation case. In a Georgia workers’ compensation case, there are rules that determine what doctors can treat you for your injury. Basically, the starting point for your medical treatment is going to be your employer’s panel of physicians.
Because your treatment starts with your employer’s panel of physicians, it is very important to understand how the panel of physicians works and where you can find it. I am going to discuss those things and some other information about the panel of physicians in this article.
What is a panel of physicians?
You may have never heard the term Panel of Physicians or even list of Workers’ Compensation doctors. You may not have even known that one should exist. But your employer should have actually had a list of Workers’ Compensation doctors or Panel of Physicians posted at your job site and they should have explained that to you. That’s a requirement of Georgia’s law.
In most situations, your employer picks a list of at least six doctors and writes them on a document known as the panel of physicians. The panel of physicians is important to you because you get to pick a doctor off of that list to treat you. You can also change to a different doctor on that list if you get unhappy with your initial doctor selection.
One other type of panel of physicians is a WC/MCO panel of physicians. This form is actually known as the “Managed Care Organization Procedures”. It looks like this.
This WC/MCO form will not actually list the doctors. Instead, it lists the ways that an injured worker can obtain the list of doctors that are in the WC/MCO. The State of Georgia/DOAS and the Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) are employers who have used WC/MCOs to provide workers compensation medical care.
How can I find the panel of physicians?
Georgia law requires employers to post the panel of physicians in prominent places on their business premises. What does that mean?
Since the panel must be prominent, it cannot be stuck in a drawer or hidden in a corner. Most employers post the panel on a bulletin board where they also post other employment information that the law requires them to post. These bulletin boards are often located in a break room or near the time clock.
Does my employer have to give me a copy of the panel of physicians?
The State Board of Workers’ Compensation rules do require your employer to provide a copy of the panel of physicians upon request. However, they have some time to respond to that request for the panel.
If you locate the panel of physicians, you may want to document what it looks like. One of the easiest ways to do this can be to take pictures of the panel. This picture can serve as documentation of:
What the panel looked like;
Where it was posted; and
Which doctors were listed on it.
All of this information can be important in your workers compensation case. If your employer did not follow the rules about posting and explaining the panel, you may be able to select any doctor you want to provide treatment for your workers compensation injury. This right can be very helpful in making sure you get proper treatment for your injury.
What if I have other questions about workers compensation?
Georgia’s workers compensation system can be very confusing. You have to worry about getting the treatment you need and paying your bills while also worrying about not missing any deadlines that could cause you to lose your right to receive workers compensation benefits.
If you have questions, I would recommend that you try to get answers. To find out more about how to schedule a time to talk to me about your workers compensation questions, just read this short article.
Jason Perkins is an attorney who specializes in representing injured workers. He regularly publishes videos and write blog articles about Georgia’s workers compensation system and issues that are important to injured workers and their families.
To be notified of Jason’s new workers compensation videos, subscribe to his Georgia Workers Compensation Video Series channel on YouTube by clicking the subscribe button below.
Amazing! Jason and his team were very helpful and had the best communication by far. Walked me though every step with great detail and had answers for any question I had. They handled my case better then I could imagine, it was a weird case and they stayed on top of it and kept me updated every step of the way! Highly recommend this Team! Thanks so much to Jason and his Awesome team!-Brittney
I absolutely love this group of attorneys, when I was at my lowest they did everything they could to help me get justice for my injury. I believe if I were to have never picked my phone up and called the amazing group that helped me I definitely would not have received my idea of rights. If you have an issue and are just not sure please understand that they will help you, stay in contact, answer any question you have, and for sure get you the justice you deserve I thank them from the bottom of my heart and I will definitely refer them to anyone who has been hurt because they most definitely care about their work and clients.
If you must get a lawyer involved, you’d do well to work with Jason Perkins and his team at Perkins Studdard Law.They were thorough in gathering information and in sharing all the steps in the workers comp process specific to my case. Jason and the team were responsive to my bevy of questions and concerns.I appreciated the informative videos and consultations provided by Jason over video meetings and multiple phone calls.I hope I’m never injured on the job again. However, if I am and if my employer responds as my previous employer did, I’ll contact Perkins Studdard Law immediately to handle the case.
Everyone at Perkins Studdard was kind and professional. They were always extremely responsive and answered all questions that I had and followed up to make sure I had an understanding of what was going on along with emailing videos to explain every step of my case so I would know what to expect and be prepared. Jason is a very genuine person and I trusted him with my case. He answered so many questions for me even before I retained him as my WC lawyer. I highly recommend him and his associates at Perkins Studdard.
