MRI Results And Workers’ Compensation

After a workplace injury or prior to a diagnosis with an occupational disease, you may need to have an MRI in order for a health care provider to accurately assess your condition. It is important to understand when MRI results may be important or even necessary for your workers’ compensation claim, and what you may be able to do if workers’ compensation does not want to pay for an MRI. Our experienced Sunrise workers’ compensation lawyers can provide you with more information.

Requirements of Medical Evidence for Worker’s Compensation Coverage.

Under Florida workers’ compensation law, “objective relevant medical findings” are necessary to show that the injured worker’s job was the major contributing cause of any compensable traumatic injury or occupational disease. In other words, an injured worker or a worker who may have a compensable occupational disease will need to have reliable medical evidence from a health care provider, and that medical evidence may include MRI results.

The statute further clarifies that “establishment of the causal relationship between a compensable accident and injuries for conditions that are not readily observable must be by medical evidence only, as demonstrated by physical examination findings or diagnostic testing.” In addition, the “major contributing cause must be demonstrated by medical evidence only.”

To be clear, MRI results may be critical to your workers’ compensation claim. At the same time, you may run into difficulties when it comes to seeking an MRI and coverage for that scan from workers’ compensation.

What is an MRI?

In order to understand when an MRI may be necessary medical evidence for an injured or disabled employee’s workers’ compensation claim, it is essential to learn more about MRIs and how they are used. According to the Mayo Clinic, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a specific kind of “medical imaging technique that uses a magnetic field and computer-generated radio waves to create detailed images of the organs and tissues in your body.” MRIs are also able to create three-dimensional images of a person’s organs and tissues that can be seen and assessed from different angles.

Why would an injured worker need an MRI, or why would an injured worker seek an MRI? As the Mayo Clinic clarifies, MRIs are a “noninvasive way for your doctor to examine your organs, tissues, and skeletal system” in order to diagnose a traumatic injury or an occupational disease. MRIs are often used to diagnose traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), spinal cord injuries (SCIs), inner ear disorders, tumors, and strokes.

Seeking an MRI to Prove Your Injury is Compensable

 An MRI may be necessary medical evidence to prove that your injury or disease resulted from your job duties, or that your job duties were the major contributing cause of your current injury or condition. At the same time, the insurance company might want evidence that shows your job was the major contributing cause before agreeing to pay for an MRI. If you are in this situation, you should seek help from a workers’ compensation lawyer in Sunrise who can help you to have all necessary medical tests covered.

Contact a Sunrise Workers’ Compensation Attorney

 Do you have questions about the use of MRI results in a workers’ compensation claim, or do you need help getting your MRI covered by workers’ compensation? You should contact one of the experienced Sunrise workers’ compensation lawyers at the Law Offices of David M. Benenfeld, P.A. for help.

Sources:

leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0400-0499/0440/Sections/0440.09.html#:~:text=Establishment%20of%20the%20causal%20relationship,demonstrated%20by%20medical%20evidence%20only

mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/mri/about/pac-20384768