WORKERS’ COMPENSATION: INFORMATION FOR NEW CLIENTS:

The following information is provided to help you understand how we will be handling your workers’ compensation claim. 
If you have any questions not covered here, write them down and call us.

WHO TO TALK TO:

Do not discuss your case with anyone except employees of our office and/or your doctors unless you’ve been advised otherwise by us.
If you have a problem, please call our office or e-mail us. A paralegal will be assigned to your case and you will be provided with her e-mail address.

WHAT TO SIGN:

Do not sign anything until you check with us.

PEOPLE WHO CALL YOU:

If anyone calls you about your case, please inform them you have retained an attorney and direct all such calls to your paralegal.   

PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS

Sometimes, the insurance company will hire a private investigator to monitor your activities. There is nothing we can do to stop this as it is perfectly legal for them to do.
However, the private investigator cannot trespass on your property, nor can he or she harass you or your family. Call your paralegal if this occurs.  

THE PAPER TRAIL:

Keep all papers, bills, or anything else pertaining to your case in the folder provided.  Send to this office copies of medical bills, RX receipts, disability slips and
pay stubs if you are losing time from work.  Make sure you provide us with such documentation in a timely fashion.      

MEDICAL BILLS:

As part of our service to you, we will assist you in getting your bills and temporary total disability benefits paid.  However, the process takes time. 
Insurance companies can often be stubborn and/or slow to process claims.  Please be patient.  Expect that bills/wages will sometimes not be paid promptly. 
Insurance companies require numerous documents.  Do not expect your lost wage checks to be sent regularly.

While you are free to choose any doctor you wish to treat with, it is strongly recommended that your doctor be "workers' compensation certified".
This means that the doctor took the required steps set in place by the state to be an authorized provider for patients injured in work accidents.
As long as the doctor is workers' compensation certified, you cannot be balance billed for treatment so long as you have an acknowledged claim, and should not have
to worry about unpaid medical records damaging your credit. You are also not required to seek "pre-authorization" for treatment while treating with a workers' comp certified
doctor or facility. If you choose to treat with a doctor who has not been certified, the first visit is covered, but any subsequent treatment requires pre-authorization from the workers' compensation insurance carrier before each and every visit and procedure.

Should any of your medical bills be sent to collections, please do not panic. Make us aware of the problem and we will work to get this under control.

LOST WAGES:

Each time you see a doctor, please have he or she complete the workers’ compensation approved disability form. The form can be downloaded online and printed from
the Office of Workers’ Compensation’s website by going to http://www.dplaw.com/images/PhysiciansReportofWCinjury.pdf

DEFENSE MEDICAL EXAMINATION:

An insurance company may schedule an evaluation with their doctor called a Defense Medical Exam or DME.  We will notify you of the date, location and time of the evaluation. 
It is imperative that you attend.

UTILIZATION REVIEW:

If you get a Utilization Review, or a UR, decision about your medical treatment, please get this to us as soon as possible.
These are very time sensitive: there is a limited time that these can be appealed.

SURGERY:

If your doctor recommends surgery, please call us right away. We’ll do all we can to quickly get total disability payments started for you.

MEDICATIONS:

Please do not wait until your medication nearly runs out before getting a refill from the pharmacy. Sometimes,
getting refills for your medications can be delayed due to the workers’ compensation carrier not immediately submitting authorization. If there is a problem,
we may need some time to get it resolved and get your medication dispensed to you.

YOUR ROLE AS CLIENT IN PROCESSING YOUR CLAIM:

Inform us of any changes in your job, job duties or salary. We may need your help in getting certain forms delivered to your healthcare providers and other parties.
Please help us help you by cooperating with our requests.

Every time you see a doctor or other healthcare provider, get a business card from them to provide to our office.
This will ensure that we are aware of all of your treating healthcare providers. You should also regularly check on the status of your account and
inform us if your bills are not being paid.

MOVING:

If you move or get a new phone number, notify us immediately. If at all possible, please do not leave the state while your case is pending.
Any litigation that may take place before the Industrial Accident Board will require your presence. Obtaining medical treatment out of state can also be difficult,
as many doctors will not be certified under the Delaware Workers’ Compensation Guidelines.

NEW INFORMATION:

If you find out or hear something new about your case, call our office to let us know. If your medical treatment changes or you get hospitalized,
please tell us as soon as possible.

MEDICAL INSURANCE:

Do not use it until you talk to us.

OFFICIAL REPORTS:

Do not file any reports anywhere until you talk to us.

DISABILITY AND UNEMPLOYMENT:

Do not apply for this or any other aid until you talk to us.

DO WHAT THE DOCTORS SAY:

Be sure to do what your doctors say.  Your job is to get well.  There is never a reason or excuse to miss a doctor’s appointment without calling and informing
the doctor and rescheduling.  By missing a doctor’s appointment or not following through with treatment, you are saying to the doctor, to the insurance company,
or to the other side that you don’t hurt, that it doesn’t matter
that much. 

WHEN WE NEED TO SPEAK TO YOU:

We will contact you via e-mail or phone when we need to speak to you. We will try to accommodate your schedule as best we can. We will send you copies of documents and letters pertaining to your case. There is no need to call us about the copies that are sent to you from our office unless you have a question.
There may be times where it seems nothing is going on in your case. This does not mean that your interests aren’t being protected. It simply means that at the
time there is nothing that can be done or should be done with your case. Please remember that case development takes time. Feel free to contact your paralegal
if you are concerned about your case.

SOCIAL MEDIA

If you are a member of a social networking site and/or have accounts such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.,
please keep in mind that whatever you post, whether statements, pictures and/or video clips, is not private and may be subject to discovery by your
employer or workers’ compensation insurance company. It is now standard practice for defendants, insurance companies and their attorneys to search and obtain
information from social media sites.  Please be very cautious as to whatever you write or post, or have written or posted by others,
which could fall into the hands of your employer, its insurance company, and its attorneys for the purpose of unfairly attacking the validity of your case.

It would be best that you refrain from using social media networks as much as possible until your case is concluded. We also suggest that you set
your privacy to the highest setting, do not friend anyone that you do not know, and be very discreet with the content you post. Posts, photos or videos that show physical
activity inconsistency with your claims can be used against you and be very damaging to your claim. What could seem harmless to you can easily be taken out
of context and used against you.

It is imperative that you do not discuss your claim on social media networks or with anyone outside of our office. Other forms of communications such as blogs,
text messages and e-mails to friends and family can also be used against you. You should only discuss your case with our office and your healthcare providers.
You can communicate with our office via e-mail as these are generally protected by Attorney-Client privilege. However, you should not any e-mail accounts provided
by your employer to communicate with us. Please use a private e-mail account. 

FINANCIAL PROBLEMS:

We understand that as a result of this accident there may be extra expenses and reduced income.  If you have pressing financial matters,
we can sometimes write a letter to a creditor explaining your accident and they will cooperate and give you more time to take care of matters. 
However, it is a violation of a Lawyer’s ethical duties to lend you any money. 

CASE FINANCING/ADVANCE LOANS

Please do not seek out these companies or apply for any settlement loans without talking to us first. The interest and costs you have to repay are typically very high.
We want to ensure you are completely aware of the terms and conditions before you enter into any contract.

“BUT I HEARD”:

When we are working on a case, and especially when we are talking about settlement, many times, clients tell us what they heard about a friend, a neighbor,
or relative that had an accident or got injured and had some type of recovery and the client is upset or wondering why their recovery is not as large or significant as the
one they heard about.  Every case is different, every injury is different, and every client is different.  There are never two cases exactly alike.