Choosing a doctor for your auto injury is sometimes a challenge because there are more criteria than when you have a typical injury. For example, you might have the following questions: Does a doctor have experience for treating an auto injury? Can he write a persuasive medical certificate of residual disability? Besides, you might have a concern about whether you can often commute to the hospitals because of the pain and discomfort. This article lets you know what point you should take care of when you choose a doctor for the auto injury.
What kind of hospitals is suitable for your auto injury?
A suitable hospital depends on your symptoms. Here you can find typical injuries in automobile accidents and corresponding hospitals.
| Type of injury | Type of hospital |
| Fracture and bruise | Orthopedics |
| Eye symptoms (loss of vision and blurred vision) |
Ophthalmology |
| Ear/nose symptoms (hypacusis, olfactory disturbance, etc.) |
Otolaryngology |
| Symptoms of the head (headaches, consciousness problems, etc.) |
Neurosurgery |
| Spinal cord injury | Neurosurgery, orthopedics |
| Headache, insomnia, fatigue, etc. | Pain Clinic, Department of Anesthesiology |
| Injury or scar | Plastic surgery, dermatology |
| Tooth loss | Dentistry |
| No subjective symptoms | General hospital, orthopedics |
Regardless of your injury type, finding a primary doctor in orthopedics is the most prudent if thinking about the process later on. Unlike the other doctors, orthopedics doctors require you to come to a hospital once or twice a week for rehabilitation. That works not only for the treatment but also works for making your treatment record which will be referred by insurance companies. They confirm your injury exists and you have been treating it for a certain amount of time. Needless to say, they payout the insurance based on the treatment record.
In the case where you have another symptom and need to see another doctor, ask your orthopedic doctor to make “a letter of reference” to another doctor. If you bring such a letter to another doctor, he/she will comprehend all of your statuses. After the session, he/she writes back a message to your primary doctor with his/her diagnosis result. The whole process makes your primary doctor catch up with your medical condition. This step helps the primary doctor easily write the logically clear medical certificate, which will be necessary when you apply for compensation to insurance companies.
Choose only one doctor and try to build a trusted relationship
Some patients try to see different doctors for each of their different symptoms. If it’s a normal injury, it might be OK, but this kind of attitude doesn’t work when you have auto-injury. Why?
One of the reasons is a medical certificate. Only doctors can issue a medical certificate. It contains your treatment history from just after the accident until the end of treatment. It’s a critical document that not only insurance companies but also GIROJ(General Insurance Rating Organization Japan) refer to sometimes. What amount of compensation you can eventually get sometimes depends on its quality. To make a logical and convincible certificate, the doctor has to comprehend all of your medical conditions and treatment history. So, we recommend finding just one doctor who can understand all of the symptoms you got in the accident scene, and try to build a trusted relationship with him/her.
We don’t recommend visiting more than two doctors at the same time, because having more than two doctors means having more than two opinions on your symptoms. That is not an appreciated situation for getting a consistent and logical medical certificate.
Accessibility
Treatment for auto injury often requires frequent visits to hospitals. That is not only for treatment but also for making a treatment record.
Especially when you used an ambulance service, treatment starts at a hospital which is not always close to your home, because you were brought from the accident scene. If it is necessary to visit the hospital for treatment often, it’s better to change the hospital to a closer one from your home. Reducing the burden of visiting a hospital gives you less stress, and you can concentrate on the treatment.
Frequent visit to a hospital also works when applying payout for Residual Disability. Insurance payout is based on the record on how many times you go to a hospital. While you won’t hope your pain lasts for a long time, it’s important to expect your pain and disability to remain for the rest of your life just in case. When it unfortunately happens, you might want to apply for the special compensation from CALI(Compulsory Automobile Liability Insurance) for residual disability. In this case, the record showing your frequent visit to the hospital will possibly work when applying the payout for residual disability.