QUESTION: I have a PI patient with good Med Pay with St Farm. We received a few payments from St Farm, then they suddenly stopped although our patient received regular care. We were told by St Farm that the PI atty is now redirecting all Med Pay payments to his office. What can I do?

ANSWER: Dr. this is one on the most common questions we get.

Here is our approach.

1. Bring in the patient for a special consultation---hopefully they are still in treatment;
2. Explain to the patient how much it literally costs the patient when the doctor is not paid by his own Med Pay. That the PI atty will take 1/3 of his own med pay. Meaning that the patient will get less money at settlement.
3. Explain that the atty is not pro chiropractic ---and you recommend he get a pro DC atty. And you can help him do that immediately.
4. Once the patient agrees to get new counsel, arrange for the new atty to meet your patient. The new atty will contact the old atty to immediately take over the case. The new atty will also get your “kidnapped” med pay and forward it to you.
5. Both you and your patient will be better off.

[for more information see http://www.shawnsteel.com under Doctor Resources.]
Melina Grassi was rear-ended on I-5 sustaining some $12,000 in property damage. She suffered back and neck injuries, constant headaches. She required chiropractic and physical therapy.

Melina incurred up to $18,000 in medical bills, plus $9800 in loss of earnings. She demanded $35,000 and Mercury offered $20,000.

The San Diego County jury came back with $40,000. Meaning that Mercury will have to pay much more than this verdict. Mercury will have to pay all expert fees and interest. Nice work by Dr. Anne Jenkins, DC working with Georgine Jorgensen MD

Grassi vs. White 37-2009-00057316-CU-PA-NC San Diego Superior
CCA-Districts

San Bernardino County 02/08/2011
Riverside County 02/15/2011
Long Beach 02/16/2011
Alameda County 03/03/2011
North Bay 03/16/2011

Tong & Associates

Riverside 03/05/2011
CCCLA 04/21/2011
Burbank 05/14/2011
Ontario 06/11/2011

For questions call John at 310-697-9000 or
e-mail: johntawlian@shawnsteel.com

Too good to be true. Your patient’s Unbelievable Attorney. His brother in law or “family friend”. Yellow page attorneys. No experience doing PI. Insurance companies love these attorneys. They eat their lunch. Your lien is not safe here.
2. Referring you bad cases. It’s cheap and easy for bad PI attys to refer you “bad” cases. They know the case [maybe a slip and fall] will probably never settle. But they look good to the client, sending them to a ‘free’ doctor. Caution!
3. Stealing your patients. Yep. You had very happy patients until they saw a stranger atty. That atty switched docs ---and you lose a perfectly good case. You asked for it.
4. Kidnapping your Med Pay. Most PI attys believe there are ‘entitled’ to swipe your med pay. It’s in their DNA. Attys who believe that are not your friend.
5. Bad Liens. It’s bad enough when they don’t sign. It’s worse when they do AND change the lien. Anytime your lien is written over or rubber stamped…it will always mean your bill will get slashed.
6. Stonewalling. Trying to get an honest update, such as when will the case settle---is like asking the statute for directions. You are left to imagine when and if the PI will settle.
7. Turning your nice patients against you. This is saddest of all. You’ve done the work---actually expended overhead cash to get the patient well ---have not received much payment—then at settlement the patient comes charging into your office demanding you ‘cut’ you fees—so the patient can get more money.



Abbreviated Practice Tip: If you don’t have experience with the patient’s attorney you are taking a serious risk on nonpayment. At least 50% of PI attys have ethical problems. Plus many attys don’t even like DC care. You have the right and duty to make sure that your patient has a pro chiropractic attorney ---otherwise you might just have a cash patient instead.

These points are part of our statewide CCA tour presentation. If you would like to attend email johntawlian@shawnsteel.com for a PI seminar near you.