Irvine Healthcare Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

Working in the healthcare industry is often exhausting and sometimes thankless, but always vitally important to both saving and improving the lives of hundreds of people every single day. However, while you may be used to helping other people deal with unexpected injuries and illnesses, getting hurt or sick yourself because of something that happened at work can be something that even the most experienced physicians are not prepared for in the moment.

Fortunately, you likely have access to benefits through your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance that can help minimize the financial impact of your injury or illness, as well as help from capable workers’ comp attorneys in obtaining those benefits. From start to finish of your unique claim, our Irvine healthcare workers’ compensation lawyer could help you navigate around legal roadblocks and improve your chances of getting paid what you deserve.

What Kinds of Conditions Can Justify Workers’ Comp Claims?

Under state law, virtually every company that employs any number of full-time or part-time employees is required to provide workers’ compensation insurance coverage to all of their employees. That coverage should provide benefits to any employee who gets hurt or sick while performing work-related duties. Importantly, this includes not only injuries like accidental puncture wounds from syringes and exposure to communicable diseases from patients that are standard parts of medical work but also other types of accidents that can occur during any type of work, such as slips and falls on hospital tiles.

Additionally, healthcare workers can file workers’ comp claims over injuries sustained from intentional acts like assaults committed by patients or their family members, as well as chronic injuries that build up over time, such as back strain caused by repetitive bending and lifting motions. Our Irvine healthcare workers’ compensation attorney could answer questions about whether a particular scenario could give rise to a valid claim during a private consultation.

What to Do After Getting Hurt or Sick in a Healthcare Facility

The first thing a healthcare worker should do after sustaining—or in some cases, after discovering they have sustained—a work-related injury or illness is notify their immediate supervisor of the harm they have sustained. Once they have been informed of the incident, that employer should provide a DWC-1 claim form for the employee to complete and return to them, at which point the employer will complete their own portion of that form and send it to their insurance provider.

At this point, the employer’s claims administrator should preauthorize up to $10,000 of medical treatment from either the worker’s predesignated primary care physician or from someone in the employer’s medical provider network or healthcare organization. It is vital for injured healthcare workers to seek all necessary medical treatment for their injury or illness while waiting for a decision on their claim’s validity. Unfortunately, not every workers’ comp claim is accepted on the first try, and support from our knowledgeable lawyer in Irvine can be especially important to progress efficiently and effectively through the healthcare workers’ comp appeals process.

Speak with an Irvine Healthcare Workers’ Compensation Attorney Today

Getting hurt or sick at work is always inconvenient at best and can be life-altering or even life-threatening at worst. Even by those standards, a work-related injury or illness can be particularly devastating for a healthcare worker whose entire career is built around helping sick and injured people.

Support from our Irvine healthcare workers’ compensation lawyer could be invaluable for getting the benefits you need without piling too much additional stress on yourself or your loved ones. Call today to discuss your options.