If you’ve been in a car accident – or experienced some other kind of personal injury incident – you need to avoid having a treatment gap. A treatment gap is the amount of time that elapses between when the injury occurred and when you first receive medical treatment. A treatment gap can also occur during your medical treatment plan if you miss multiple appointments. These treatment gaps may become quite important when it comes to your insurance payment or court settlement – here’s why.
Two Types of Treatment Gaps
Treatment Gaps to Avoid: If you were in a car accident but did not seek medical treatment, you are immediately setting yourself up for trouble. Perhaps you felt fine for a few days, but after a couple of weeks, the aches and pains are only getting worse. Maybe you turned down emergency care on the scene, but six months later, the pain is too much to bear any longer. Or maybe you walk into an urgent care facility and are prescribed pain medications – but never follow up with a doctor or chiropractor for a complete diagnosis or therapy plan. If you wait too long to seek out medical care in all these scenarios, your insurance company (or the other driver’s insurance provider) may decline coverage. This is why it is so important to seek medical care after an accident, even if you do not think you are seriously injured.
Reasonable Treatment Gaps: Assume you turn down care on the scene and go home after the accident but wake up the next day in excruciating pain. If you immediately seek medical help, your insurance company should have no problem covering the treatment. Another example of an acceptable treatment gap is if you have been attending doctor or chiropractor appointments regularly but came down with the flu and needed to miss a few appointments. As long as you contact your doctor and they are aware of your illness, the treatment gap will likely not adversely affect you.
How Much of a Treatment Gap is Too Much?
Every situation is different, and no formula dictates precisely how long of a treatment gap is acceptable. As a rule, experts say that it can be challenging to convince another party that you are seriously injured if you do not seek treatment within three weeks – but of course, that is also subject to unique medical situations.
For instance, some people don’t like to take a lot of medication. Assume that one of these people is prescribed two weeks of medication for pain, but they only take half of the recommended dosage every day. Their pain is moderated, but after the prescription runs out – one month later – their “delayed” return to the doctor at that time may be acceptable to the court.
Remember, a third party – be it a judge, insurance company employee, or jury of 12 peers – will determine whether or not your treatment gap was valid. If anything looks suspicious, they may rule against you. Therefore it is crucial to seek medical help, document everything, and keep up with your treatment plans.
You can also ask your personal injury attorney for professional advice regarding how your treatment plan will affect your eventual reward. In fact, one of the first calls you should make after a serious car accident is to an experienced personal injury law firm. Probinsky & Cole have offices in Sarasota, Brandon, and Orlando and are here to help.
