Wolmed Blog » Work Comp http://wolmed.com/blog Just another WordPress site Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:18:40 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Workers Comp Denton / Workers Comp Dallas / Texas Workers Comp Doctors http://wolmed.com/blog/workers-compensation/workers-comp-denton-workers-comp-dallas-texas-workers-comp-doctors/ http://wolmed.com/blog/workers-compensation/workers-comp-denton-workers-comp-dallas-texas-workers-comp-doctors/#comments Thu, 13 Jan 2011 16:18:25 +0000 chelms http://wolmed.com/blog/?p=112 The annual report on the total number of Texas work injuries was recently published and it showed another drop in the overall number of reported work injury claims for 2010.  This is the 4th consecutive year showing a reduction in Texas work injury claims.  Some would have us believe that this number is a good thing, and from the standpoint of fewer people getting injured I would certainly agree.  However, these numbers don’t necessarily tell the whole story.  Take the following points for example.

Point #1 – Unemployment.  When fewer people have jobs fewer people get hurt on the job.

Point #2 – Fear of Unemployment.  When so many people are already out of work, many others fear being out of work.  Lots of companies fire people after they are hurt on the job.  It’s not fair, but it’s a reality for many injured workers.

Point #3 – Reduction of Doctors who Treat Injured Workers.  Workers Compensation health care networks have drastically limited the number of qualified doctors who are allowed to treat many injured workers.  If employees have reduced access to qualified workers comp doctors, who will they report their injury to?  Not reporting an injury doesn’t mean that an injury never happened, but statistically, this will add to the supposed reduction in work injury claims.

Point #4 – Work Injuries that are Treated as Regular Health Insurance Claims.  Many people who are hurt at work will not only not report their injury, but they will see a doctor and say that they don’t know how the pain started.  They may get some treatment from their doctor, but it will be under their regular health insurance and not under Texas Workers Compensation.  Many health insurers are very good at allowing treatment for these kinds of injuries.  Blue Cross Blue Shield is one very good example of an insurance company that takes care of its customers.  The problem is that Texas Workers Comp provides injured workers with many rights that the injured worker must forgo by not filing a work injury claim, and by taking this route annual injury statistics appear lower than they really are.

Now clearly some of the reason for the reduced number of Texas work injury claims is due to things like better employer education on workplace safety, OSHA regulations, and other workplace safety initiatives.  Those points should not be overlooked.  The point I want to drive home is that these numbers are most certainly skewed and the reasons are very sad.  Unemployment, fear of unemployment, reduction of qualified Texas Workers Compensation doctors, filing on health insurance instead of workers comp insurance and anything else that might have an affect on the statistics.

WOLMED Texas workers compensation doctors want to help you when you’re hurt on the job.  We can’t stop unemployment, but we can help you with the fear of unemployment by helping you get the treatment you need and by taking steps to help protect your job.  And sure we accept Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance and most other insurances, but we don’t want you to waive your rights under Texas Workers Compensation.  Instead, we want to help protect your rights.  Finally, while there is a reduction of qualified doctors who treat workers compensation, we still treat injured workers and we have no plans whatsoever to stop helping injured workers.  We want to be your doctor!

If you or someone you know what hurt at work, but aren’t exactly sure what to do about it, give us a call.  The Medical Doctors and Chiropractors at WOLMED can help you.  We are workers comp experts.  We’re open 7am to 8pm on week days and 7am to 4pm on Saturdays and we welcome same-day appointments.  Call us today in Denton and Dallas, TX.

]]> http://wolmed.com/blog/workers-compensation/workers-comp-denton-workers-comp-dallas-texas-workers-comp-doctors/feed/ 0 More Great Patient Feedback http://wolmed.com/blog/patient-satisfaction/more-great-patient-feedback/ http://wolmed.com/blog/patient-satisfaction/more-great-patient-feedback/#comments Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:33:06 +0000 chelms http://wolmed.com/blog/?p=70 If you read our blogs, you know that we are constantly monitoring how well we are doing at meeting the needs of our patients.  We have an ongoing survey that lets patients rate us from1 (bad) to 5 (excellent) on our performance.  The last 15 patients that rated us gave us perfect 5′s in every area!  Some of the comments that were written about us by actual patients were:

Great medical care vith a very friendly staff.

You are always professional and sweet. 

Your availability is beyond amazing.

My husband and I are lucky to have ya’ll around.

Dr. Wolski and staff rock!

You are wonderful.

You guys are awesome!

WOL+MED is the best clinic ever!

Dr. Helsten, Janet, and all staff are superior.

Great service!

Lovely staff and doctor.

We really appreciate all of this great feedback and we hope that others will see this and decide to give us a try too.  We love giving excellent service!

]]> http://wolmed.com/blog/patient-satisfaction/more-great-patient-feedback/feed/ 0 Positive Patient Feedback http://wolmed.com/blog/patient-satisfaction/positive-patient-feedback/ http://wolmed.com/blog/patient-satisfaction/positive-patient-feedback/#comments Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:38:41 +0000 chelms http://wolmed.com/blog/?p=65 Recently, WOL+MED has become aware of the many places on the internet that patients can go to and rate their doctors.  The majority of things said about WOL+MED doctors is very positive, and even enthusiastic in many cases.  Unfortunately, these sites are not able to verify that comments were made by actual patients of the doctor they are rating, or that the ratings are based on actual experiences with the doctors.  Nevertheless, the feedback can be very valuable.

One website that allows people to rate doctors uses a 4-star system.  Here, Dr. Wolski is rated very favorably, especially from people who we have been able to verify as actual patients of WOL+MED.  There was also a bad review on there by a person who we were able to identify as someone who never had an experience with WOL+MED because they were never a patient here.  So, to be fair to anyone who is interested in getting actual, true feedback from people who have actually been patients at WOL+MED, we did our own study using the same parameters as those used on the web. 

Here’s what we found from a survey of 32 active WOL+MED patients.  Patients were asked to rate the doctor on a 5 point scale where 5 is excellent and 1 is bad.

Ease of Appointment – 4.93 out of 5.

Courteous Staff – 4.93 out of 5.

Accurate Diagnosis – 4.93 out of 5.

Follow Up – 4.9 out of 5.

Bedside Manner – 4.84 out of 5.

Spends Time With Me – 4.75 out of 5

As you can see, actual patients at WOL+MED are very happy with the doctors and staff at WOL+MED.  Now, take a look at the enthusiastic feedback these patients gave us.

Margaret is so wonderful!  She takes time to listen and makes you feel comfortable in the process.

Dr. Shultz is the best.  His concern for treatment is very caring and he goes above and beyond to help.

Love this place and the people.

Simply the best!

Wonderful operation.  No other clinic like yours.  Multitude of services is appreciated.

I wish all doctors were just as caring as Dr. Helsten.

The Doctor and staff are wonderful.

Staff is awesome.

I Love WOL+MED!

I love WOL+MED.  They have been great to me and helpful with getting me better from my injuries.

The staff here and care that I received at WOL+MED has been first rate and I recommend you to all my colleagues.  Thanks!

Always great service and nice people.

If anyone has a doubt as to how patients feel about the doctors and staff at WOL+MED, just remember the feedback from our actual patients.  There’s a very good reason that WOL+MED’s #1 source of new patients is from the referrals of our existing patients.  So, if you were hurt at work or in a car wreck, or if you or a family member is sick, give WOL+MED doctors a try.  We really do want to be your doctor and we’re committed to making you happy to choose and recommend us.

]]> http://wolmed.com/blog/patient-satisfaction/positive-patient-feedback/feed/ 0 Lewisville, TX Workers Comp http://wolmed.com/blog/pain-management/lewisville-tx-workers-comp/ http://wolmed.com/blog/pain-management/lewisville-tx-workers-comp/#comments Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:15:13 +0000 chelms http://wolmed.com/blog/?p=46 The Lake Lewisville bridge seems to have an invisible barrier that keeps injured workers from crossing over into Denton to get treated for a work injury.  Do Lewisville injured workers realize that for just a short drive to Denton, they can be treated for a work injury by Medical Doctors who are workers comp experts.  From Round Grove Road, to Loop 288, in Denton, the trip only takes about 10 to 15 minutes.  That’s an easy drive to get expert medical care for a complicated work injury.  Lewisville, TX is home to people who work for the post office, education, transportation, manufacturing, retail, and much more.  People in these industries are among the most injured in Denton County.  It’s important that injured workers in Lewisville, TX know where to go to get expert treatment for their workers comp injury.  Consider WOL+MED in Denton, TX.  If you or someone you know lives in Lewisville, TX, let WOL+MED help you with your workers comp injury.  For more information about how WOL+MED can help Lewisville, TX injured workers, call (940) 484-7000 or visit us on line at www.wolmed.com.  We want to be your doctor!

]]> http://wolmed.com/blog/pain-management/lewisville-tx-workers-comp/feed/ 1 Do You Need a Workers Comp Attorney in Your Corner? http://wolmed.com/blog/attorney/do-you-need-a-workers-comp-attorney-in-your-corner/ http://wolmed.com/blog/attorney/do-you-need-a-workers-comp-attorney-in-your-corner/#comments Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:19:06 +0000 chelms http://wolmed.com/blog/?p=34 In order to remain CARF accredited, WOL+MED is required to provide access or referral to legal entities for appropriate representation and to have information available to our patients regarding advocacy.  In other words, we are required to help patients find attorneys who can help them with the legal aspects of their work injuries.  Workers Comp attorneys can be very helpful for injured workers.  Very often, people who were hurt on the job have trouble getting their injuries approved by the insurance carrier and sometimes they have difficulty getting their entire injury claim accepted.  Attorneys can file for Benefit Review Conferences (BRC) and Contested Case Hearings (CCH) that often clear up the problems that injured workers have for getting treatment.

BRC’s and CCH’s can be overwhelming and intimidating for injured workers because they have to attend the hearings and represent themselves against lawyers and other workers comp experts who are trying to keep their case closed.  If the case is closed, then injured workers can’t get the treatment they need to get better.  When they can’t get better, they often lose their jobs, suffer from depression and financial loss, and more.  Workers Comp attorneys can usually prevent these bad things from happening.

CARF recognizes the need for patients to have legal advocacy and so does WOL+MED.  We can recommend very good, qualified workers compensation lawyers who will help get your case open or keep it open and help get your work injuries accepted by the insurance carrier.

Some people worry that they will have to pay the attorney and that usually is not true.  Most of the time, the workers comp attorney is paid a percentage by insurance carriers, but ONLY when you get paid and ONLY when your case is going well.  These lawyers have to do the right job for you before they ever get paid.  The other thing that is very important to remember is that if you have to be off work due to a work injury that is not accepted by the insurance carrier, you most likely will not get paid.  When your attorney gets your claim approved, that also keeps your checks coming.  Many patients think that’s worth it since they wouldn’t get paid without their attorney.

When you’re hurt at work, the last thing you should have to worry about is if you will have insurance problems or if you will have to pay money out of your own pocket to get treatment.  It’s not fair to you when that happens.  WOL+MED helps you with these problems by recommending very good, qualified workers comp attorneys to be in your corner.

]]> http://wolmed.com/blog/attorney/do-you-need-a-workers-comp-attorney-in-your-corner/feed/ 2 WOL+MED Earns Maximum CARF Accreditation http://wolmed.com/blog/chronic-pain/wolmed-earns-maximum-carf-accreditation/ http://wolmed.com/blog/chronic-pain/wolmed-earns-maximum-carf-accreditation/#comments Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:25:46 +0000 chelms http://wolmed.com/blog/?p=31 WOL+MED has earned its 3rd straight maximum CARF accreditation for Pain Management, Work Hardening, and Work Conditioning.  CARF stands for the Commission on Accreditation of Rehab Facilities.  This is the international “Gold Standard” in rehabilitation.  By the end of the current accreditation period, WOL+MED will have been accredited for a full decade.  To become CARF accredited, a medical / physical therapy facility has to meet or exceed hundreds of standards for excellence.  Among these standards are those requiring accessibility into the rehab programs, tracking of excellent outcomes, patient satisfaction, maintaining an excellent medical team, effective business operations, maintaining a safe treatment environment, and much more.  CARF accreditation is an ongoing effort which means that WOL+MED is committed to always providing the highest level of service to its patients and their families.  We don’t have to be CARF accredited.  After all, it’s really hard.  We do it because we know that it makes us better and because we know that it’s important to our patients.

At last check, WOL+MED has the only CARF accredited Pain Management program between Dallas and St. Louis, Missouri (traveling along I-35).  We’re proud of our program and of our patients’ results.  The majority of people who complete our programs get better and are able to get their life back.  With our continued CARF accreditation, we’re committed to that high level of excellence.

If you know someone who suffers with chronic pain or they haven’t gotten the results they expect from other places, please tell them about WOL+MED’s CARF accredited pain management program.  Go to our web site and read the testimonials from other patients who experienced success with WOL+MED.  We can help.

]]> http://wolmed.com/blog/chronic-pain/wolmed-earns-maximum-carf-accreditation/feed/ 1 Post Office Work Injuries http://wolmed.com/blog/healthcare/post-office-work-injuries/ http://wolmed.com/blog/healthcare/post-office-work-injuries/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:23:29 +0000 chelms http://wolmed.com/blog/?p=16 WOL+MED has helped hundreds of injured postal employees over the years.  We’ve seen injuries from lifting heavy packages, repetitive mail sorting, climbing stairs, and more.  I have personally had the opportunity to be on-site at a local post office to witness the hard work these federal employees go thru daily to get their jobs done.  It’s hard to believe (unless you’ve seen it first hand) just how hard of a job postal workers have.  Each year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts out data on the number of injured federal employees and the US Postal Service has by far the most, with nearly 50,000 reported cases per year.

When these folks get hurt, the federal government does an excellent job at covering their medical expenses.  The biggest problem for these injured workers is finding a qualified medical doctor who treats federal workers comp.  Even among workers comp doctors, it’s hard to find someone who even understands federal rules well enough to treat federal injured workers.  Of course, at WOL+MED, the medical doctors are federal workers comp experts, but we had to learn a lot of hard lessons along the way before we got to be as good as we are now.  We love to treat injured postal employees and other injured federal employees.  And guess what?  Those people love to come to WOL+MED to get treatment.

We find that a very high percentage of injured workers will refer their friends, family, and coworkers to us.  That’s usually what happens when a patient trusts us.  They want the people they know to have the same good experience.  It just makes sense.  WOL+MED BBQ’s for all of its patients at lunch time usually 2 or 3 times per month.  We like to do patient appreciation parties and we give patient appreciation gift bags for new patients.  We have games like Wii and a pool table too.  Why shouldn’t a visit to the doctor be fun?  That’s our philosophy because we truly believe that patients are #1.

So, check us out.  Hopefully, you won’t ever get hurt at work, but if you do, choose WOL+MED.  If you know of any federal employees who were hurt at work, please tell them about us.  We’re always ready to help new patients, even with same-day appointments.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR REFERRALS!

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