After being involved in a vehicle accident, most people will choose to file a personal injury claim or lawsuit. Many articles stress the importance of seeking medical treatment following an accident. While this is correct, it is important to realize that both the nature and the duration of the medical treatment you receive plays a large role in the value of your claim. This article will discuss how the type of medical treatment and duration of treatment affects the value of your personal injury claim.

A key component of most injury claims is how much was spent on medical bills while the injured person was being diagnosed and treated. The medical bills make up part of the injury damage formula that is used to figure out total damages. It should be noted that not all medical services are created equal. Both the nature and the duration of medical service can affect how insurance companies perceive it, as can the type of medical provider or facility that provides the service.

Treatment v. diagnosis - before you can be treated for an injury, some medical professional needs to diagnose it. Generally, the diagnostic process is relatively quick and the charges amount to a small part of the medical bills as compared to the cost of the treatment. “Sometimes doctors will put a person through many tests and examinations in order to correctly diagnose what is wrong, and, as a result, they may run up a large medical bill in the process. If most of the medical bills are for diagnosis only and the injury requires little treatment, insurance adjusters may not make an offer much higher than the total of the medical bills on the basis that the claimant did not suffer from his or her injuries for a long period of time.” Rather, they might use a lower multiplier when it comes to calculating the appropriate range of damages.

Medical doctors and hospitals vs non-medical doctors - a strong prejudice among insurance companies is of favoring the mainstream Western treatment provided by physicians, hospital and medical clinics versus physical therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture and other non-mainstream medicine. As a result, any medical treatment you have at the hands of a medical doctor, hospital or medical clinic, no matter how expensive, will be considered legitimate by almost any insurance adjuster and will be given a higher multiplier in the damages formula. However, treatments by non-medical providers are often equally effective and much less costly, but insurance adjusters tend to apply a lower multiplier to them.

Physical therapy - it should be noted that in accident injury claims, physical therapy is a common treatment. Yet, it is generally considered to be lower in the pecking order than other kinds of medical treatment; as a result insurance adjusters are likely to use a lower multiplier when fitting your medical bills into the damages formula.

Logic dictates that if an injury necessitated a long period of medical treatment, the injury required a long period to heal, which also translates to a high degree of pain and suffering. Therefore, if you undergo a long period of treatment, you can argue to an adjuster that the long treatment was evidence of the seriousness of the injury. However, “insurance adjusters are suspicious of non-conventional treatments needed for long periods. To insurance adjusters, physical therapists and chiropractors who provide long treatment do so to keep the money rolling in”. Therefore, if you have received a long period of chiropractor or physical therapy treatment an insurance adjuster is less likely to consider that as evidence of the seriousness of your injury.

For advice in respect of valuing your personal injury claim contact a Wasilla car accident lawyer for a free first consultation.

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The Crowson Law Group is a law firm of renowned professionals who specialize in personal injury matters. The law firm has offices located in Anchorage and Wasilla Alaska. To hire Wasilla personal injury lawyer contact the Crowson Law Group Wasilla offices today.