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Authorized Treating Physician

Authorized treating physician is a legal term for your primary doctor in a Georgia workers compensation case.  Your authorized treating physician has special privileges in your case that other doctors do not.  These privileges affect the workers compensation benefits you receive.

Clearly, you need doctors to get good medical treatment.  Understanding the privileges and powers that an authorized treating physician has will help you get that treatment.  Also, you can make sure you receive the other workers compensation benefits you should.

Male doctor holding x ray of spine and hipsWhat privileges does my authorized treating physician have?

Georgia workers compensation law gives this doctor  privileges in just about every area of your case.

Medical treatment privileges

Your authorized treating physician has two primary medical treatment privileges

  1. The power to provide medical treatment and testing
  2. The power to refer to other medical specialists

Any “authorized physician” can provide treatment for your work injury.  But, only the authorized treating can refer you to other specialists for treatment.

Why does this matter so much? The authorized treating physician cannot always provide the care you need.  Suppose you have a torn rotator cuff and need shoulder surgery.  If your authorized treating physician is not a shoulder surgeon, he or she can refer you to a shoulder surgeon and the insurance company has to pay for it.

If the authorized treating physician could not refer to specialists, you would have to get agreement for a specialist or get a judge to order one.  The power of a referral provides the medical treatment much more quickly.

Work status privilegesDoctor therapist examining leg of patient in cast and wheelchair

Often, your work injury limits what you can do.  These limitations usually affect your ability to work.  After an injury, you should expect that your doctors will have opinions about what you should and should not do at work.

Fortunately, Georgia law gives your authorized treating physician some power over your work status.  If your employer tries to offer you an unsuitable job, your authorized treating physician can refuse to approve it.

Of course, this power over work status extends the other way as well.  If your authorized treating physician releases you to return to regular duty work without restrictions, the insurance company will probably suspend your benefits.  So, make sure you have a fair authorized treating physician.

Permanent partial disability benefit privileges

Georgia law requires the insurance company to request a permanent partial disability (PPD) rating from the authorized treating physician in certain situations.  However, the PPD rating provided by the authorize treating physician does not bind the insurance company or you.  You can always get an opinion from a different doctor about a PPD rating if your believe the rating is too low.

Who picks my authorized treating physician?

Under Georgia law, your authorized treating physician has many privileges that affect your workers compensation case.  Because of that, you need a good doctor in that role.  How can you go about making sure you have a good doctor.

You have the right to pick your authorized treating physician.  Sometimes, you can pick any doctor you want.  Most of the time, you have to pick off the panel of physicians posted by your employer.  To learn more about your right to select a doctor, please read this article I wrote.

Can my authorized treating physician change?Man with injured back walking with cane

Yes.  You can change your authorized treating physician.  But, the insurance company may change him or her as well.

Sometimes, you have the right to change doctors.  At other times, you may have to agree with the insurance company to change.

In some situations, you may need to get a judge to order a change of physicians.  This could require filing a motion or going to court.  For a more detailed explanation of how you can change doctors, take a look at this article.

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.

Brittney-lee orourkeBrittney-lee orourke
05:23 18 Feb 22
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
China JonesChina Jones
18:58 08 Feb 22
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.
Luv LocsLuv Locs
16:08 15 Jan 22
The entire law office was attentive and responsive to all of my concerns dealing with my workers compensation case.
moombimoombi
21:14 02 Jan 22
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.
Dana BessDana Bess
23:57 10 Dec 21
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.
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