NEXT STEPS: ARE YOU KEEPING TRACK OF YOUR TRIPS TO THE DOCTOR?

Small Records Matter When You’re Trying to Recover Benefits From an Injury

When you’re dealing with a work injury, there are probably a lot of things on your mind: doctor appointments, pain, missing work, insurance paperwork, and figuring out how you’re going to pay your bills. Keeping track of the miles you drive to medical appointments probably isn’t at the top of your list. But David’s case gives us a good example of why seemingly small records matter.

As part of his workers compensation case, David requested reimbursement for travel expenses related to his medical treatment. There was just one problem—he didn’t have the records to support that part of his claim. According to the court, David did not provide travel or mileage logs, or testimony showing how many miles he had traveled to receive medical care related to his work injury. Because that evidence wasn’t presented, the court dismissed his request for travel expense reimbursement.

Think about that for a moment. David successfully established that his ankle condition was connected to his work accident. His compensable medical treatment was awarded, and he was awarded temporary total disability benefits.

But one part of his claim was still dismissed. Not necessarily because the trips didn’t happen, but because the court simply didn’t have evidence showing how many miles he traveled.

Documentation Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated

You don’t need to wait until there’s a dispute to start keeping records. If you’re receiving medical treatment for a work injury, consider keeping a simple record of your appointments and travel.

For each trip, write down:

• The date of the appointment
• Where you traveled for treatment
• The medical provider you visited
• Your starting point and destination
• The number of miles traveled
• Any related receipts or paperwork

You can keep this information in a notebook, a spreadsheet, your phone, or another system that works for you. The important thing is to log the information while it’s still easy to remember. Trying to reconstruct months—or even years—of medical travel later can be much harder.