Priciest Job Injury Diagnostic Tests

Diagnostic tests are perhaps the most important and most expensive part of job injury medical treatment. Uninsured patients usually pay inflated prices for these tests, while insured patients, including workers’ comp patients, receive substantial discounts. Frequently, providers try to bill job injury victims for the difference between the inflated and discounted price.

This technique is illegal. Job injury victims aren’t financially responsible for unpaid, reasonably necessary medical costs. But this illegality doesn’t prevent providers from sending bills. So, a Tampa fair debt lawyer must step in and fight for the legal and financial rights of job injury victims. A lawyer also fights for the other benefits job injury victims are entitled to, such as lost wage replacement.

MRI

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a radiological medical imaging technique that takes pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body.

MRIs don’t use X-rays or ionized radiation. Many patients are extremely sensitive to such radiation, and radiation-based tests aren’t as accurate. Furthermore, MRIs often detect soft tissue injuries that other scans miss.

This effectiveness has a downside. Since the 1970s, MRIs have been the go-to diagnostic tests for seriously injured patients. The high demand leads to overpricing and overdiagnosis. As a result, workers’ compensation insurance company adjusters often argue that an MRI was medically unnecessary.

A Tampa workers’ compensation attorney often partners with an independent physician who testifies that an MRI scan was the right move.

EMG

Electromyography (EMG) is a process as opposed to a test. It evaluates and records the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. An electromyograph produces an electromyogram. The electromyograph detects the electric potential generated by muscle cells when these cells are electrically or neurologically activated. The electromyogram analyzes these signals to detect abnormalities, activation level, recruitment order, or movement biomechanics.

Electromyographs are very delicate instruments. A technician must insert a needle into the patient’s arm at exactly the right place. Doctors often order re-tests if they believe the EMG data is inaccurate. Workers’ compensation insurance companies almost always refuse to pay for such re-tests.

EEG

Electroencephalography records an electrogram of the brain’s spontaneous electrical activity. The biosignals detected by EEG have been shown to represent the postsynaptic potentials of pyramidal neurons in the neocortex and allocortex.

This typically non-invasive test uses electrodes placed along the scalp (scalp EEG) using the International 10-20 system, or variations of it. More advanced electrocorticography, involving surgical placement of electrodes, is sometimes called intracranial EEG. Clinical interpretation of EEG recordings is most often performed by visual inspection of the tracing or quantitative EEG analysis.

Insurance adjusters usually pay for non-invasive EEGs without giving the matter a second thought. Likewise, without giving the matter much consideration, they usually refuse to pay for surgical EEGs. Once again, an independent doctor usually testifies about the need for the more advanced test.

 Work With a Diligent  Hillsborough County Attorney

Injury victims are entitled to important financial benefits. For a free consultation with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer in Tampa, contact Kobal Law. The sooner you reach out to us, the sooner we start fighting for you.

Source:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5570467/