How Does My Medical Treatment Affect The Value Of My Injury Claim? (Diagnosis, Treatment, And Length Of Recovery)

Diagnosis of Injuries:

Injuries must have a clear diagnosis. Only then can proper treatment commence and continue. Many injuries are easily diagnosable and diagnostic services represent a relatively small amount of the total medical billings. However, sometimes multiple and expensive tests are necessary before a diagnosis can be made. All things equal, cases with a disproportionate amount of diagnostic procedure costs relative to actual treatment costs are not worth as much as cases in which actual treatment costs represent a greater proportionate share of the total billings. This is because the insurance company will take the position that the total medical expenses do not represent as much pain and suffering as in the latter situation.

The Type and The Effectiveness of The Medical Treatment

In general, well established medical treatment and procedures that are generally accepted in the medical community are better compensated by juries and therefore by insurance companies. Alternative medical practitioners such as chiropractors, massage therapists, acupuncturists, and alternative medicine providers may very well be effect in treating the injuries, but juries can often be persuaded by insurance companies and defense doctors that such treatments are either not beneficial, legitimate, or necessary. Some jurors already come to court believing that if someone opts for such treatment they must not have been that injured or worse yet that such treatment is voodoo science and not worthy of compensating. While these treatments and their resulting expenses will often be reimbursed by insurance companies, they can result in less compensation for pain and suffering than if treatment was provided by a medical doctor or other medical specialists such as orthopedists and neurologists and those auxiliary treatments that doctors more commonly refer accident injury victims such as physical and occupational therapists.

Notwithstanding the potential risk of receiving less compensation for your injuries, seeking treatment that you are comfortable with and believe will benefit your recovery is always an important consideration. Your health and well being is always a priority.

Extent of Treatment (frequency and length)

Almost without exception, there must be medical treatment for your case to have any value. When there is a lack of treatment, the insurance company successfully defends against any substantial jury award with the simple but effective common sense argument that an accident victim who is truly injured and hurting will seek treatment.

Typically, treatment must be fairly immediate. Gaps in medical treatment, particularly early on, can be very troublesome from a case value standpoint. Treatment that continues for an extensive period of time until a medical provider has concluded that you have recovered or have reached a point of medical stable, often referred to as maximum medical improvement, is evidence of significant injury and will greatly increase case value. In defending injury claims, the insurance company is often successful with the common sense position that a small amount of treatment is indicative of a less serious injury, which results in less case value.

Your claim of serious injuries with significant impact at home and at work will be easily defended by the insurance company and disregarded by a jury if not substantiated by substantial medical evaluation and treatment. Injuries without treatment are regarded as minor or nonexistent. As mentioned above, failure to seek treatment within a reasonable amount of time after an accident not only puts your health at risk but subjects your injury claim to potential suspicion and harms the value of your case.

On the other hand, certain forms of extensive treatment by a medical provider can facilitate the insurance company argument that your injuries were only minor and you were treating daily simply to pump up your claim. For example, long-term chiropractic treatment, without solid documentation of your injuries or if the same treatment was provided day after day despite any indication of improvement, leads to the insurance company taking the position that your treatment was excessive and the claim that chiropractors sometimes treat more often than necessary and that this what occurred in your situation. Juries do not compensate for medical treatment that they are not persuaded was reasonable and necessary. The insurance company is unlikely to compensate extensive chiropractic care without benefit and/or documentation of injuries and will not consider it to be an accurate gauge of the seriousness of an injury as if you were treating with a medical doctor.

The Length of Your Physical Recovery:

Insurance companies take into account the length of time it took for the injuries to stabilize or resolve when determining the value of a claim. The more frequent, severe, and extended the pain, the more allocation to pain and suffering. They consider whether the injury required ongoing medical evaluation and treatment and the total number of times you needed to see your doctors and therapists and so forth. Keeping your doctor advised of your progress, the specifics of your continuing pain and discomfort (i.e. specific location, type, severity, resulting limitations), muscle spasm, loss of range of motion and mobility, this will ordinarily be documented in your medical records. The beauty of this approach is that the reason for keeping your healthcare providers carefully informed is primarily so that they can provide you with proper and sufficient treatment and only secondarily so that your claim is properly substantiated. Again, your health and well being and physical recovery always come first and your doctors can only treat your injuries if they know exactly what they are.

Your medical bills and wage loss and property damages are important factors in determining the value of your case. For more information, go to "How Do Medical Bills, Wage Loss, And Property Damage Help Determine The Value Of My Injury Claim?"

Just Ask

Kansas City Accident Injury Attorneys
1102 Grand Blvd., Ste 1901
Kansas City, MO 64106
Phone: 816-471-5111
Toll Free: 888-348-2616
Get Directions

Kansas City Accident Injury Attorneys*
11900 College Boulevard, Suite 300
Overland Park, KS 66210
*By Appointment Only: Heather A. Lottmann & Victor B. Finkelstein

Free Consumer Guides

Video

What Does A Free Consultation Include?

Filing A Pre-Judgment Interest Claim

Kansas City Personal Injury Lawyer Talks Halloween Safety

The Lawsuit You Didn't Choose

Understanding the Terms Negligent and Negligence

View All

Contact Us

Kansas City Accident Injury Attorneys
1102 Grand Blvd., Ste 1901
Kansas City, MO 64106
Phone: 816-471-5111
Toll Free: 888-348-2616
Get Directions

Read Important DISCLAIMER