Author Archives: Roger Moore

What if an Independent Medical Examination Doctor Doesn’t Agree with My Doctor?

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Roger Moore

As I have written previously, in Nebraska, you have the right to choose your family doctor to treat you for your work injury. For purposes of the workers’ compensation court, that person becomes your “treating doctor.” However, sometimes an employer or insurance provider selects a non-treating doctor for an “independent medical examination” (IME). According to the workers’ group National Association of Injured & Disabled Workers (NAIDW), IMEs are used for three reasons:

“to determine the cause, extent and medical treatment of a work-related or other injury where liability is at issue”
“whether an individual has reached maximum benefit from treatment”
“whether any permanent impairment remains after treatment”

When an IME is scheduled, this probably means your employer or the insurance company is trying to fight some aspect of your workers’ compensation benefits. An IME doctor frequently bases his or her findings on what is often a very brief visit with a patient. Sometimes they don’t even perform a physical examination before rendering their opinion. Rarely do they issue opinions that are favorable to an injured worker. For that reason, when an examination like this is scheduled, my policy is to Continue reading →

I Can’t Find Work; Does That Mean I’m Disabled?

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Roger Moore

Having physical or mental impairment will not automatically make you entitled to Social Security Disability benefits.

Many people believe that if they suffer from a physical and/or mental impairment and can’t find work, this means they should be on Social Security Disability. This simply isn’t true.

Disability is not necessarily tied to your ability to obtain work, or your inability to perform one main occupation. The Social Security Administration (SSA) will review your employability not just in your immediate locality, but also in the state and region in which you live.

While only employment opportunities in your immediate areas are considered for workers’ compensation, the same is not true for social security disability. If you are unable to find work in your immediate area, the SSA requires you to move to a locality where a job exists. Note that the SSA’s responsibility doesn’t include having to find you employment, but only to establish that you are physically and mentally capable of performing that job if a position became available.

Additionally, your inability to perform the work you’ve done for years or decades does not automatically qualify you for disability. The SSA will consider skills you’ve acquired from your work life in determining whether those skills allow you to “transfer” to or perform other occupations. It’s important to also remember that the SSA isn’t really concerned with how much those other occupations may pay. If you can work full-time in a position that is available in your state and region, this will normally disqualify you from receiving disability.

The conditions which the SSA imposes upon a claimant are unfortunately, not always feasible or fair. Nevertheless, as it is the current state of the law, compliance is required.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Returning to Work Shouldn’t Be This Hard

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Roger Moore

Communicate with your doctor and follow a few guidelines to stay safe when you return to work.

In virtually all workers’ compensation cases an injured worker has to return to work in some capacity. Often these are very stressful situations and it is not uncommon for issues to arrise including conflict with an employer over what a safe return to work actually is. Your goal should be to continue to earn a paycheck while at the same time not risking further injury. Many times this is easier said than done.

Whether it’s a supervisor who ignores your restrictions or a human resources department that actively skirts them, issues frequently come up. We see employers do everything from requiring an injured worker to lift or stand more than they should, to pressuring an employee to return to work the day after a surgical procedure.

You can expect that a nurse case manager or HR specialist from your employer is communicating with your doctor’s office about your return to work. Sometimes they may misrepresent the work that they expect you to do upon your return. It is your job to fill in the gaps.

The most important thing an injured worker can do is communicate with his or her treating physician.

Educate your doctor about the job you were doing when you were initially hurt.
When you are assigned to work, educate your doctor about the light duty job you are doing.
If you are assigned to a job that is difficult for you to perform due to your injury, talk to your doctor about what aspects of that job are difficult. The doctor will likely be willing to restrict you from doing that specific activity.
If your employer is Continue reading →

Why Is The Social Security Administration Trying To Take My Money Away?

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Roger Moore

I wrote the attached article, When Did I Get My Windfall and Why Is the Social Security Administration Trying to Take It Away? (link is to a PDF) for the January edition of Social Security Forum, a publication of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives. I thought this information would be valuable to a broader audience than just other Social Security Disability lawyers, so I am republishing it on our blog.

The Social Security Administration has been reducing benefits to former National Guard members based on an obscure provision, and lately the courts have been overturning these benefit reductions. If you or someone you know has received a notice from the Social Security Administration indicating that the “Windfall Elimination Provision” applies to them, you should read the attached article immediately or contact us for more information. We want to make sure that you receive the maximum benefits that you are entitled to under the law.

You can read the article by clicking here: When Did I Get My Windfall and Why Is the Social Security Administration Trying to Take It Away?

How Do We Earn Your Trust?

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Roger Moore

Earning your client’s trust is a crucial part of being an attorney.

In its most basic form, trust is defined as “reliance on the integrity, strength, and ability of a person”.

Trust can also be defined as “a person on whom one relies”.

I was reminded of this earlier this week when a client for whom I had settled a case dropped by our office. This client had been a truck driver and lived out of state. While we were working on his case we never had the opportunity to meet in person, yet he came to trust me to look out for his best interests and advise him along the course of his workers’ compensation injury. He came by to thank me for the work I had done for him which had been completed over a year and a half ago.

As I spoke with him I began to understand how stressful it must be to trust someone who lives halfway across the country and with whom you may never meet in person. This is a unique aspect of trucking cases we handle which isn’t found in other types of work-related injuries.

Due to his injury he was unable to return to trucking. However, we were able to negotiate a settlement which allowed him to live his life Continue reading →

13 Tips for How to Deal With A Difficult Doctor (Part 2)

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Roger Moore

Two weeks ago, I shared a post with some tips for workers’ compensation attorneys on how to deal with difficult doctors from my colleague Len Jernigan. In this follow-up post, I’ll share the remainder of Len’s ideas on how to take matters into your own hands when you are having trouble working with the doctor on your case. As with all medical matters, being an informed patient is at the core of these tops.

(8) Explain case procedure and why you are there.

Unfortunately, I had the experience of walking into a deposition once and the first question from the physician was “What’s going on here and what’s this got to do with me?” Just prior to a deposition is not the time to be answering this question. Some physicians have never had their depositions taken before and they are unnerved at the prospect. Explain the process and explain the necessity for medical testimony.

(9) Ease tensions.

Behind every physician-patient relationship there is the potential for a medical negligence claim. Ease that fear by Continue reading →

Shortcuts at the Social Security Administration Mean Mistakes

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Roger Moore

In this tricky environment, be sure to get the help of a treating physician in offering a supportive report.

Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Social Security Administration (SSA), frustrated by the backlog of applications for disability benefits, started pressuring the 140 doctors the agency uses to help evaluate some of the claims. In an effort to encourage the quick processing of claims doctors were paid a flat rate of $80/case in stead of the previous $90/hour to review the cases. Many times these cases have hundreds of pages of records to be reviewed and can turn on a few sentences.

In this setting it’s every more important to seek the help of a treating physician in offering a supportive report.

Also, doctors were assigned to evaluate conditions that were not in their areas of expertise. One of the more interesting quotes came from Neil Novin, former chief of surgery at Baltimore’s Harbor Hospital, who worked for Social Security part time for about 10 years. He said “People who shouldn’t be getting [disability] are getting it, and people who should be getting it aren’t getting it”.

In my experience Continue reading →

How To Deal With A Difficult Doctor (Part 1)

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Roger Moore

Good quality medical care and honest opinions about the care are essential for a worker to receive proper benefits. Len Jernigan, a colleague of our firm from North Carolina, has written one of the best articles I have ever encountered on dealing with doctors. This is a good informative piece for injured workers, their families and professionals working with these cases. We face all of the problems discussed in this article on a daily basis in NE and IA.

A doctor’s opinion is crucial to every workers’ compensation claim. Most doctors give honest and rational opinions. As we all know, however, there are some physicians who have a different agenda and either do not take the time to properly evaluate a patient or they intentionally downplay the potential seriousness of the injury. For attorneys working on a workers’ compensation case, the following steps may help in the search for the truth.

(1) Check the doctor’s credentials.

It is a strange but true fact that some experts have falsified their curriculum vitae. If a physician has lied about his qualifications, his expert opinion just went out the window. One way to verify credentials is to check the American Medical Association’s web page. Select “Doctor Finder” and then follow the instructions until you get to “Find a Physician” and type in the name, address and zip code. If you are seeking a specialist, a doctor certification can be checked by phone with the AMA. For medical doctors call (800) 776-2378. For osteopathic doctors call (800) 621-1773, ext. 7445.

(2) Check disciplinary records.

According to the Federation of State Medical Boards 4,432 disciplinary actions were taken against 3,880 physicians in 1996. There are approximately 650,000 licensed physicians in the United States. The Federation is responsible for promoting high standards for licensure and practice, and serves as the primary center for collecting, monitoring and reviewing actions taken against physicians. (A full report can be obtained by calling (817) 868-4000. The report is also available on their web site. Sidney Wolfe, a physician who is director of the Public Citizens Health Research Group, a consumer watchdog organization, has analyzed this document and his report can be obtained by calling (202) 588-1000. A list of “Questionable Doctors” can also be obtained from Public Citizen for each state.

(3) Communicate, communicate, communicate.

It is important to find out as much as you can about the physician involved in your case. See if he is listed on the internet. If he has written any articles, see what the focus is. Ask other physicians, nurses, hospital employees and others in the community about this person. Now, with this information in hand, schedule an appointment to talk with the doctor. Try not to schedule it during his lunch break, or while he is seeing patients. You want his undivided attention and you will not get it if he is thinking about some medical crisis sitting in the next room.

(4) Build a relationship.

Lawyers who specialize in workers’ compensation are likely to see the same physician Continue reading →

Workers' Compensation Watch

Published by Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm

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Author Archives: Roger Moore

What if an Independent Medical Examination Doctor Doesn’t Agree with My Doctor?

Returning to Work Shouldn’t Be This Hard

Why Is The Social Security Administration Trying To Take My Money Away?

How Do We Earn Your Trust?

13 Tips for How to Deal With A Difficult Doctor (Part 2)

How To Deal With A Difficult Doctor (Part 1)

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