General Practitioner who takes car accident victims?

Hi Folks,

I have a friend who lives in West Orange. He was in an accident and is dealing with a long list of injuries but none are currently bad enough to have him hospitalized. So now he's at home trying to deal with it all and his workplace is expecting him to return to work. Right now he's not getting good care and was asking for recommendations. Is supporting car accident victims a special kind of medical nightmare? Maybe that's a stupid question.

Any thoughts? PM me or post here if you have helpful suggestions. Thanks.

Are you looking for a doctor reference?  It's not 100% clear.

bub said:

Are you looking for a doctor reference?  It's not 100% clear.

 Yeah, I should have been clearer on the conclusion. He is trying to find a doctor who is willing to deal with a complicated case of injuries and agencies. Not that I'm making it sound like an awesome time or anything...

Why a GP and not an orthopedist?

why a general practitioner?  sounds like he needs a specialist based on the type of injuries such as a pain specialist or orthopedist.  A general doc can't do much to evaluate and treat injuries, other than the very minor.

I know a guy who walked away from an accident, has shown no signs on functional limitations and found a doc to help him sue for over a million...and a lawyer...my guess is the doc is a quack only in it for the money.  He may have some pain and minor injuries, but nothing near a million dollar case.  He race walks down the block, bends, lifts, etc.....with no signs of distress......it seem so easy for the frauds to get medical 'care' while people really sick get blown off.

It isn’t the injuries that is the issue, it is that most doctors will not accept auto insurance, something about it being “third party.” 

Best I could recommend is calling the auto policy and asking for doctors who accept their policy.

In our case we were only seen in the ER, so the doctors could not refuse us treatment, but dealing with the bills is still a ******* nightmare.  The date of service was December and I’m STILL fighting to get everything paid.  The doctors billing office refused to even communicate with the auto insurance, I had to constantly keep on top, send stuff between the two, etc.  The auto policy finally paid their part, now the medical plan is making me jump through even more hoops because they’re listed as secondary, I’ve submitted, and resubmitted, multiple forms, the EOB from the auto insurance payment, itemized bill, etc.

Which reminds me, I have to go online and switch my insurance policy to list my medical insurance as primary.  God forbid I ever get in another accident I don’t want to deal with that billing nightmare ever again.

spontaneous said:

It isn’t the injuries that is the issue, it is that most doctors will not accept auto insurance, something about it being “third party.” 

Best I could recommend is calling the auto policy and asking for doctors who accept their policy.

In our case we were only seen in the ER, so the doctors could not refuse us treatment, but dealing with the bills is still a ******* nightmare.  The date of service was December and I’m STILL fighting to get everything paid.  The doctors billing office refused to even communicate with the auto insurance, I had to constantly keep on top, send stuff between the two, etc.  The auto policy finally paid their part, now the medical plan is making me jump through even more hoops because they’re listed as secondary, I’ve submitted, and resubmitted, multiple forms, the EOB from the auto insurance payment, itemized bill, etc.

Which reminds me, I have to go online and switch my insurance policy to list my medical insurance as primary.  God forbid I ever get in another accident I don’t want to deal with that billing nightmare ever again.

 Oh my! That is straight up awful. Sorry to hear that.

I think the term you are looking for is primary care physician rather than general practitioner.  Many health insurance plans will assign you to, or help you select, a primary care physician who in addition to providing your basic health care, coordinates your care among multiple medical specialties.  Assuming your friend has health insurance, this is the best place to start.  As Spontaneous points out, even if the medical expenses will be covered by automobile insurance, there is a huge advantage to working within the network of your health insurance provider.  To your concern regarding multiple specialties, there are multi-specialty practices (often HMOs) that have physicians in a wide range of specialties who are used to working together.  Your friend's health insurance provider may include one or more of these HMOs within their network or may function as a HMO in its entirety.    

I've never had a health insurance assign or help me select a doctor.  Even with blue cross, at least at the time, they  had 'case managers' to help find doctors for difficult issues...it was a joke, a 5 year old could have done the job.  they just referred me to 3 docs on their list that were specialists, but not necessarily for my issue.

He does not have health insurance.

jmitw said:

I've never had a health insurance assign or help me select a doctor.  Even with blue cross, at least at the time, they  had 'case managers' to help find doctors for difficult issues...it was a joke, a 5 year old could have done the job.  they just referred me to 3 docs on their list that were specialists, but not necessarily for my issue.

 When my PCP retired, the health insurance company assigned me to a new PCP.  I told them that I had found someone on my own and verified with them that doctor was in their network.  Every plan and everyone's experience is different which is why I did not write "all".  Some may interpret "help" as being providing a list of doctors in their network, as was your experience. You need to check with your insurance company to see what services they provide.

A Community Health Center is a good option for someone without insurance.  

They will have sliding scale and will not refuse anyone for inability to pay.  And they can provide comprehensive care, as needed.

No direct experience with this one, but it is in WO:  https://www.zufallhealth.org/for-patients/locations/#westorange

Full list of ones in Essex County here:  https://healthapps.state.nj.us/fhs/cphc/cphcList.aspx

bikefixed said:

He does not have health insurance.

 Is the auto policy paying for care?  Or was the driver uninsured and he is paying out of his own pocket?  Out of his own pocket he is free to see whomever he wants that he can afford to pay.  If the auto policy is paying then he is stuck with doctors who will accept auto policies, and there aren’t a lot of them

Not having health insurance further complicates the situation and limits options.  I agree with Spontaneous that your friend needs to begin by contacting whichever automobile insurance company will [hopefully] be covering some or all of the medical costs resulting from the accident.  That company should be able to provide a list of doctors they work with or at least explain options and procedures for getting care under their coverage.