What to Expect on Your First Doctor’s Appointment after a Tampa Car Accident with Injuries

You're in a Tampa car accident and have been taken to the hospital emergency room by ambulance. After you are stabilized, you are told to immediately follow up with a doctor with regard to your injuries. Any Tampa car accident lawyer will tell you that this first visit to your medical doctor can be very critical to your being able to successfully pursue a claim for reimbursement of your medical expenses and lost wages that result from your auto accident.
Why should the first visit with the doctor after a Tampa auto accident be so critical? Because it is your first chance to control the documentation of your injuries. You may feel confident that your injuries have been well documented when you presented at the emergency room. But the emergency room personnel often do not recognize the importance of good documentation.  Sometimes, because there's so much going on in the emergency room that is critical, the attending physicians, nurses, or assistants simply do not have the time and patience to completely and accurately report the injuries that you describe to them. Many times, they can just get the information wrong.

The emergency room record will be scrutinized by insurance adjusters looking for a reason to deny your claim. If there is a subsequent complaint for injury to your shoulder for example, that doesn't appear on the emergency room record, the adjuster may very well use that as an excuse to exclude that injury in making any kind of settlement offer. Should litigation be necessary in order to receive full reimbursement for what you've lost as a result of your Tampa car accident, the defense attorney will use the emergency room records as evidence that the auto accident did not cause your shoulder injury.

So what is it that you can do? Obviously, the first thing you can do is make sure that the emergency room personnel who records your medical history and asks you to describe your complaints writes down the information correctly. But of course this is a best case scenario and assumes that you have the capacity to review what has been written and that the emergency room personnel are willing to cooperate with you.  Both of these things are unlikely given the emergency setting that you're in. More likely, the only person who you can be sure completes the emergency room records accurately is you.  When you're in the emergency room it is likely that your mind will be on your pain and the trauma of what you just experienced.  But if possible, take a few moments to recognize the importance of the paperwork that you are completing. It could be very beneficial to you later on.

Given the issues we discussed about emergency rooms or if you didn’t go to the emergency room for your injuries, the first doctor's appointment after a Tampa auto accident is your best opportunity to make sure that all of your symptoms and issues are well documented. In addition, you will be able to give a full and accurate history so that an insurance adjuster or more importantly, a defense attorney in front of a jury, won't be able to claim that you are purposefully provided incorrect information for personal  financial gain.  This can happen when your medical providers leaves out some important element of your history like your having had a previous injury to the same area of your body.

It is important, if possible, to make sure that your first visit with a medical provider is with someone who has some level of experience with treating people who are injured in car accidents.   A Tampa car accident lawyer will be able to help you identify a medical provider who is not only excellent, but also cares about providing their patients with excellent treatment, as well as service. Too often, medical doctors are very knowledgeable about their specialty of practice, but not necessarily knowledgeable about the importance of taking accurate notes and taking time with patients to discuss injuries and appropriate treatments.  Even the best of medical doctors can make mistakes in documenting a patient’s injuries, symptoms and treatment.

So regardless of whether the doctor’s office appears to be cable of taking accurate notes, you be sure that all of your symptoms and complaints are noted in the record and reflected accurately. You can do this by asking the doctor's office to repeat back to you the information you provided, or looking at the record after the medical personnel completed. When you are completing paperwork at the doctors’ office, it is very important that you go slow and accurately describe each and every complaint and problem that you have. Imagine that you are starting at the top of your head and work down to your toes so you can be sure not to miss any part of your body. And don't dismiss problems just because you think that their small and may go away in a few days. You may be right, they may go away. But if you're wrong and they actually get worse, you may have unintentionally created a problem for yourself in pursuing full reimbursement for your car accident claim.

Whenever you are at a doctor’s office, imagine that there is an insurance adjuster or a panel of six members of the jury sitting on your shoulder, looking over all the medical records and paperwork that you are completing. This may sound rather odd, but one day there may very well be an insurance adjuster or jury doing just that.  They may be looking at each and every medical record and having someone like a defense attorney pointing out any errors or omissions  and using that error or omission against you to claim that either you are faking your injuries or that you weren’t being completely truthful about you medical condition.

It is important that you get in touch with a Tampa car accident lawyer after an auto accident so that you can discuss with them these types of issues. Only a Tampa law firm that has many years of experience including numerous trials under their belt will understand the importance of sharing with you the critical nature of the first doctor's visit that you have after an auto accident. Our Tampa law firm has that experience and understands the importance of every aspect of your claim so that you can be fully reimbursed for the injuries you’ve suffered and their effect upon your life. Please feel free to call and speak with one of our Tampa car accident lawyers for more information about this or any other issues.