Q: I was injured lower back am I allowed to get a second opinion from another Doctor of my choise
I was told by worker comp I would have to go to the same place to get a second opinion that I could not pick my doctor for another opinion
A:
If more than 90 days have passed since you reported your injury, you can treat with any medical provider. The workers' compensation carrier only controls medical treatment during the first 90 days.
If your claim has been denied through a Notice of Compensation Denial, you can treat with any medical provider regardless of whether or not you are within the first 90 days.
If your claim has been accepted, your treatment is confined to the panel list during the first 90 days after you provide notice of the injury if you want to have workers' compensation pay for the treatment. The panel list should consist of at least 6 medical providers or physicians, and you are permitted to pick from this list. Only 4 of the physicians on the list can be from the same facility. If you are not provided with the list, you are permitted to treat with any medical provider even during the first 90 days.
Assuming the claim is accepted and you were provided with a proper list of the panel providers you can still treat outside of the panel if a referral is made by a physician on the panel and/or the necessary specialty is not on the panel list.
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