Key Takeaways:
- Seeking medical attention within 48 to 72 hours of a personal injury accident is critical for your health and your claim, as delays can affect causation and give insurers grounds to devalue or deny compensation.
- Medical records, including physician notes, diagnostic imaging, and standardized coding, serve as the primary evidence linking your injuries to an accident and establishing the need for treatment and ongoing care.
- A personal injury claim involves more than medical bills; lost wages, property damage, and non-economic damages like pain and suffering are also recoverable, making thorough documentation and legal guidance essential.
It’s vital to seek medical attention for a personal injury or accident. From a health standpoint, car accidents, slip-and-falls, and other accidents can cause hidden injuries and health challenges.
Getting immediate medical attention allows doctors to assess, treat, and document those injuries more effectively, potentially allowing you to limit the severity of your injuries while also creating a link from the accident to the injury.
While there is a medical benefit to personal injury treatment, the timing of the treatment also matters to any personal injury claim you may file. Quick medical treatment after a car accident, for example, points to causation, which can prevent insurance devaluation and benefit settlement negotiations.
No Win, No Fee
Getting medical treatment after an accident should be your priority, not worrying about legal costs. Our team is here to help you understand your options and pursue the compensation you deserve. With our “No Win, No Fee” promise, you pay nothing unless we recover on your behalf.
Seeking Medical Attention After Your Accident
Too many accident victims wait to visit hospitals, urgent care facilities, or primary care physicians. The response likely stems from fear and adrenaline, which can mask symptoms.
Whether it’s the anxiety over out-of-pocket expenses, straight denial, or shock, avoidance is never the right approach.
Avoiding the Wait-and-See Approach
The wait-and-see approach to personal injuries is too risky. It allows hidden and life-threatening injuries, such as concussions, traumatic brain injuries, and even hidden hemorrhaging, to worsen.
But beyond the danger of permanent cognitive impairment or serious injury, this approach affects the chain of causation, leading to challenges from insurance adjusters and possibly accusations of failing to mitigate your losses.
Choosing the Right Level of Care
While not every personal injury demands medical urgency, you have a responsibility, especially when suing, to prove treatment and causation.
Medical treatment soon after a personal injury makes it easier to tie the two events (the accident and the injury) together. Still, the type of practice you visit depends on the type and severity of the injury:
- For life-threatening and severe injuries, like breaks, concussions, or internal bleeding, visit an emergency room.
- For non-life-threatening injuries, including sprains, ligament tears, or soreness, go to an urgent care.
- When you don’t feel like you’re injured, or at least not enough to visit an ER or urgent care, visit your primary care physician.
Go to one of these providers within 48 to 72 hours of your accident. Waiting any longer may cast doubt on your injury claim.
Connecting Medical Treatment to Your Personal Injury Claim
It’s not enough to seek medical treatment after a car accident or injury. When seeking compensation, you must show how the accident, personal injury, and medical records connect.
Building Your Case With Treatment Records
Treatment records offer objective and defensible evidence to support a personal injury claim. They create a timestamped baseline of your condition within hours of your accident.
A physician’s notes help corroborate claims through contemporaneous statements like, “patient came in complaining of neck and back pain following an apparent slip and fall.”
Diagnostic proof, including X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans, provides visual evidence of internal damage, while standardized coding translates vague, generic complaints, like “my neck hurts,” into legally recognized, precise diagnoses, such as cervical whiplash or traumatic radiculopathy.
Personal injury medical records help shape, support, and legally frame medical treatment after the personal injury. They reaffirm the accident and injury timeline while establishing the need for treatment and ongoing care. And all of this contributes to an itemized list of economic and non-economic damages.
Avoiding Gaps in Your Medical Care
Strong treatment records can help build a compelling claim, but plaintiffs can quickly undermine that foundation by missing appointments or ignoring medical advice. Compliance is crucial to medical arguments.
Any gaps in treatment are a red flag for the defense. Claimants who miss rehabilitation appointments or fail to take their doctor’s advice signal to the defense that their injuries are less severe or even non-existent.
While disregard for medical treatment plans after a car accident or another type of personal injury is risky from a health perspective, it’s potentially damning for a personal injury claim.
Managing Medical and Non-Medical Losses
Personal injury medical bills represent economic losses or damages. They are recoverable. However, the amount you receive (if you receive a settlement or win at trial) depends on your out-of-pocket expenses.
If you have health insurance, it will likely pay a portion of your bills, but your insurer will place a lien on any settlement or verdict to recover what it paid.
Personal injuries often include damages beyond medical, including lost wages, property damage, and even non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering. While recoverable in most cases, evidentiary rules vary, which is why a lawyer is so important.
Speaking With a Lawyer About Your Recovery
Seeking medical treatment after a personal injury is necessary for your health, but it also plays such a crucial role in the claims process, especially during settlement negotiations or trials. The medical documentation (clinician notes, diagnostic tests, imaging, etc.) helps corroborate injuries and points to causation.
Still, in a personal injury claim, medical reports and bills are only part of the recovery and compensation story. A successful claim must take into account the complete financial picture, including economic and non-economic damages. It must adhere to strict timelines and filings.
Segal, Berk, Gaines & Liss is an experienced personal injury law firm. Whether you’re recovering from an accident or want information about your legal options, contact Segal, Berk, Gaines & Liss for a free consultation.
About Derek Liss, Esq.
Derek Liss, Esq., is a partner at Segal, Berk, Gaines & Liss, specializing in personal injury law.
Derek earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from The George Washington University in 1991 and his Juris Doctor from Widener School of Law in 1994. He joined Segal, Berk, Gaines & Liss immediately after law school and brings 30 years of legal experience to his clients.
A member of the Philadelphia Bar Association, he practices throughout the greater Philadelphia region and is admitted to practice in the courts of Pennsylvania and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
