Attorneys practicing chiropractic

[Guest guest]

Dear Doctors: Let me give my two bits about why a neurological or

orthopedic referral may be necessary early on in a case: to make sure your

bill gets timely paid in the event you are still seeing the patient six

months down the road. Based upon legal analysis and experience, an attorney

might anticipate that a particular case is going to be hotly contested in

terms of causation. The time to jump all over a case is right now, within

the first 30-60 days. That's why your patient should see an attorney within

the first 30-60 days. We don't start preparing for trial after a year when

we finally figure out that the insurance company is going to play hard ball.

At that point it's a little late. We start preparing for trial the minute

that client walks in the door (and believe it or not, by doing that we avoid

trial, because the cases are so meticulously prepared that they settle where

they should). Anyway, many factors go into the equation as far as

recommending an early referral to a Board Certified M.D.: age, pre-existing

conditions, prior injuries, minimal damage, and just plain old " feel " and

" sixth sense. " Why within the first couple of months? Because that's when

the patient is most likely to be undisputably " objectively " injured. You

know it's hypesthesia caused by soft tissue swelling or fixation, I think

that's probably all it is, but I still want that Board Certified Neurologist

or Orthopedist to see it, feel it, confirm it, and write about it. Think

about an early referral as your ace in the hole IME. Why wait until a

patient is subacute bordering on chronic? By that time your bill is not

getting paid and the insurance company will hire one of their whores to

conclude that the patient is suffering from nothing other than mileage and

psychological overlay. I think you could also use an early referral to

build a lasting and respectful working relationship with a doctor,

especially if you send the patient with a letter by you that says something

like: " Dear Your Royal Highness M.D., Doe was injured in a rearend

motor vehicle collision. While there was no damage to his vehicle, his car

was knocked forward 6 feet, and he has been having considerable neck pain,

intermittent dizziness, and headache for which I am treating him. also

has some numbness and tingling in the third and fourth digits in his right

hand. Xrays reveal that he does have some minimal degenerative changes at

C6-7 consistent with aging as well as loss of cervical lordosis. I believe

that his numbness is most likely hypesthesia caused by soft tissue swelling

and joint fixation (PLEASE DON " T SAY SUBLUXATION). But do to the intensity

of the muscle spasms and hypertonicity, I would appreciate your evaluation

to rule out something more ominous. Best Regards, Your Humble, Subservient,

and Faithful D.C. " Now, are you eating crow? Kinda. But I'll tell you

what, if that patient goes chronic 6 months down the road, the PIP carrier

will still be paying your bill. Same goes for MRI's. You know there may be

a non surgical disc bulge, I suspect it, and the existence or nonexistence

of a disc bulge may not even effect your treatment plan. But I'll tell you

what, a disc bulge on an MRI will get your ongoing treatment six months down

the road paid, even if it's debatable if the bulge was caused in the

collision. Will you get paid because the insurance company believes the

patient is really hurt? Heck no! You get paid because the insurance

company knows there's no way they can get away with denying payment. I

spent three long and lonely years as an insurance adjuster. The mentality

is not " let's pay what we owe. " The mentality is " is there anyway under the

sun we can possibly deny or reduce payment? If not, then we'll grudgingly

have to pay the bill and we'll frown when we make the payment. When your

and our cases go smoothly, you get paid, the files are exhaustively

documented, and guess what? We get the cases settled with just a few hard

swings of the baseball bat. One of the largest hurtles to settlement is an

outstanding $ 3,500 medical bill. Your patients who worshipped you while

you got them well only care about their own bank account when it comes to

settlement: What about me? I'm the one who suffered. Hasn't Dr. D.C. made

enough off of me? And all that supportive/non-curative care you gave then

that helped them continue functioning? Well it didn't really help me, the

pain always returned after a couple of weeks, so why should the doctor get

more than me????? Best, G. , Gatti, Gatti, & Crew

Attorneys practicing chiropractic

> Sorry, forgot to address the letter.

>

> I have about had it with attorneys who advise our patients to see a

> neurologist or other chiropractor for a second opinion during their

> initial consultation. It maddens me even further when the attorney

> does this while the patient is within the first month of care. I

> believe we should start naming these attorneys on this list so we can

> steer our patients to more chiropractic friendly legal help.

>

> This happened last week with an attorney in Corvallis, and when I

> advised the patient to see someone else in Albany, that attorney did

> the very same thing. I hate to think it is just me. I bet more

> attorneys are doing this than we think. After all as one stated to

> my patient, chiropractors are not very high up on the medical

> hierarchy list.

>

> I contacted both and expressed my displeasure, stating that if this

> patient needed a second opinion I would be the first to send them out

> for one, but seeing as they were just in the second week of care at

> the time and progressing tremendously, I did not feel it was the

> attorney's place to be practicing chiropractic, and assured them I

> would not practice law!!

>

> So, what do you all think, should we begin listing these attorneys on

> this forum or not.

>

> Grice, DC

> 821 Elm Street SW

> Albany, OR 97321

>

>

>

>

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foster communication and collegiality. No personal attacks on listserve

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or her consent, unless all personal identifiers have been removed.

>

[Guest guest]

Dear :

Contrary to your statement that Gatti and Gatti do not participate in

this activity, I recently had Dan Gatti do just that. By the way it

wasn't for anything that was abnormal other than a second opinion. I

have never had this happen with Ron Sayer of their office and have a

wonderful relationship with him. But yes, this does happen with them

too. It still Pi**es me off though.

Grice, DC

Albany, OR

[Guest guest]

,

Thanks for taking the time to explain that to the listserv. Do most attnys have time to make a quick one-time call to the doctor and explain this rationale? I understand it well having been in business for a few years, but it would go a long way to improving referral bases and communication to do this with new docs or just 1st time referring doctors. Once you've worked with a doc I'm sure they get the routine. Is there a listserv that attorney's share that this could be suggested? It could be that most attnys don't realize that it could be interpreted as insulting to the referring doctor.

Thanks for all your work in our profession.

Minga Guerrero DC

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Thanks for the extra explanation and ideas. It was very informative.

Stockton

Attorneys practicing chiropractic> Sorry, forgot to address the letter.>> I have about had it with attorneys who advise our patients to see a> neurologist or other chiropractor for a second opinion during their> initial consultation. It maddens me even further when the attorney> does this while the patient is within the first month of care. I> believe we should start naming these attorneys on this list so we can> steer our patients to more chiropractic friendly legal help.>> This happened last week with an attorney in Corvallis, and when I> advised the patient to see someone else in Albany, that attorney did> the very same thing. I hate to think it is just me. I bet more> attorneys are doing this than we think. After all as one stated to> my patient, chiropractors are not very high up on the medical> hierarchy list.>> I contacted both and expressed my displeasure, stating that if this> patient needed a second opinion I would be the first to send them out> for one, but seeing as they were just in the second week of care at> the time and progressing tremendously, I did not feel it was the> attorney's place to be practicing chiropractic, and assured them I> would not practice law!!>> So, what do you all think, should we begin listing these attorneys on> this forum or not.>> Grice, DC> 821 Elm Street SW> Albany, OR 97321>>>>> OregonDCs rules:> 1. Keep correspondence professional; the purpose of the listserve is tofoster communication and collegiality. No personal attacks on listservemembers will be tolerated.> 2. Always sign your e-mails with your first and last name.> 3. The listserve is not secure; your e-mail could end up anywhere.However, it is against the rules of the listserve to copy, print, forward,or otherwise distribute correspondence written by another member without hisor her consent, unless all personal identifiers have been removed.>