Martin Chitwood:

As nurses, we treat many patients whose medical care is relevant to an insurance claim or a court case. This is part of why accurate charting and accurate medical records are so important. For these patients, the details of their medical care will be closely scrutinized in the process of verifying that their claim is legitimate.

A personal injury claim and a worker’s compensation claim are not the same, and there are legal differences between them. Here are the relevant differences that you should know.

Understanding Worker’s Compensation

Worker’s compensation is an insurance policy that ensures employees who are injured while on the job have their medical expenses covered, at least in part, by the company. In some cases, it may actually be in someone’s best interest to file a lawsuit against the company instead, but in most cases, a worker’s compensation claim is the most appropriate course of action.

Under worker’s compensation law, proof of fault is not necessary for the benefits to be paid out to the injured person. What is important to the case is to prove that the injury was occurred on the job, and is related to the work, an employee performed.

When worker’s compensation is awarded, the employee receives income that is non-taxable and is equivalent to about two-thirds of their income on a bi-weekly or weekly basis. They also receive paid medical care for their injury, compensation if the injury is permanent, and compensation for any job retraining that they may need if they’re no longer able to hold the same job due to their injury.

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