If a holistic medical provider treats my car accident injuries, will this hurt my case?
While many vehicle accident victims seek treatment for their injuries from a traditional doctor, some people prefer to see a holistic medical provider. While you certainly need to pursue a treatment plan that you’re comfortable with, only seeing a holistic practitioner could damage your case.
Holistic Medicine
Holistic medicine is a type of medical care that strives to address not only a patient’s body, but also his mind, spirit, and emotions. Many forms of treatment, from conventional medicine to alternative therapies, may be used.
Some typical holistic medicine approaches, such as diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes, are also embraced by traditional doctors. Other common holistic treatments, such as homeopathy and intravenous vitamin supplementation, are definitely not. This is an important distinction, due to the potential impact of insurance company bias.
Nontraditional Medicine and Insurance Companies
Insurance companies generally have a strong prejudice in favor of traditional medical treatments performed by general practitioners, clinics, and hospitals. Conversely, they’re typically biased against nontraditional options such as acupuncture, chiropractic, and physical therapy treatments.
The result is that medical bills issued by physicians, medical clinics, and hospitals are almost always accepted by insurance adjusters as a legitimate expense, while bills from non-physicians are often frowned upon.
Choosing a Medical Care Provider
If you’ve been hurt in a vehicle accident, nothing is more important than recovering from your injuries as quickly and completely as possible. To that end, you should of course choose health care practitioners you can trust to guide you on the road to recovery.
However, you should be aware that obtaining services from a non-physician may negatively impact your compensation due to insurance company bias. To combat this, you may wish to consider also visiting a traditional doctor.
An experienced vehicle accident attorney can help you review all of your treatment options. To learn more about what the law offices of Steve M. Lee, P.C., can do for you, visit us on Facebook.