Minnesota law allows injured workers to choose their own medical providers. However, any health care provider who treats an injured worker will be consideredthe “primary health care provider” going forward. If you begin treating with a doctor that your employer told you to go see, you may be deemed to have “selected” that doctor.
At Teplinsky Law Group, we often find that the medical clinics that employers tell their injured workers to treat with are biased against those injured workers and sometimes do things that undermine their workers’ compensation cases. For that reason, we strongly recommend that you do not automatically go to a clinic that your employer told you to visit without talking to us first.
Once a primary health care provider has been established, you have the right to change providers without prior authorization by the employer within the first sixty days after treatment begins. After sixty days, the employer can object to a change of providers for a number of reasons, and you may ultimately need to get court approval to make a change.
This area of workers’ compensation law can be very tricky for anyone without years of knowledge, training, and experience. If you have been injured while doing your job, please contact us at Teplinsky Law Group so that we can help guide you through this complicated process.
Call 612-465-0320 to schedule a free consultation with one of the experienced workers’ compensation attorneys at Teplinsky Law Group.