Your Attending Provider

In Washington State an injured worker needs an “Attending Practitioner”.  Injured Washington State workers who seek a claim for their injuries must have an attending practitioner.  The purpose of your Attending Practitioner will be to:

  1. Manage your treatment.
  2. Report your progress to your claim manager.
  3. Help you return to work as soon as possible.
Because of the necessity of good communication between you and your Attending Practitioner, selecting one who you can understand is important.  Also selecting an Attending Practitioner who has the time and the patience to explain your treatment and your injury recovery process to you may save you frustration down the road.
One question  you may wish to ask a potential attending practitioner is, “How much do you enjoy working with the Work Injury System?”  If working with cases of this nature makes their blood boil, you may wish to consider someone who is a bit more patient.
The practitioner you choose must be:
  1. Licensed in the state in which he or she is practicing (If you are injured in Washington but move to Oregon then you can choose an Oregon attending practitioner).
  2. Conveniently located, perhaps somewhere between your home and work.
  3. Qualified to treat the industrial injury or occupational disease.
  4. Licensed to practice one or more of the following:

Medicine and surgery (MD).
Osteopathic medicine and surgery (DO).
Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners (ARNP).
Physicians Assistants (PA).
Chiropractic (DC).
Naturopathy (ND).
Dentistry (DDS or DMD).
Optometry (OD).
Podiatry (DPM).

ARNPs and PAs may also serve as the attending practitioner but cannot perform special examinations or rate permanent impairment. Some health care providers (such as psychologists) and para-professionals (such as nursing assistants and surgical technicians) cannot be the attending practitioner.

An injured worker may request transfer of care to a new attending practitioner of his or her choice during the course of treatment. The claim manager will review and approve or deny the request for transfer of care. All requests for transfer of care must be made in writing.

Dr. Sinner at Sinner Chiropractic has been treating injured workers for over 25 years and has served as the attending practitioner for many cases.  Often however, the patient or doctor Sinner deem that is best for the patient to maintain their relationship with another attending practitioner and to receive treatment from doctor Sinner on a referral from the attending practitioner basis.  Each case is unique and he always strives to do what is best for that particular injured worker.

Many times work injuries can become fairly complicated.  Your primary care provider may actually be the perfect provider to help you with your work injury.  Or, feel free to call and talk to us about your specific work injury case.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leave a Reply