Can I just go see my own doctor?

Yes you can, at your expense. If you’re employer tells you that you’re not permitted to this they are giving you totally wrong information. The insurance company only gets to direct your medical care if they formally accept the claim. That means they’ve filed a Form 60 with the Industrial Commission.

Be warned, however, that the Industrial Commission often pays little attention to what your family doctor has to say. The idea is that the doctor may go out of his way to take your side in a dispute. That probably does occur sometimes but not as often as the state legislature thinks and, in our experience, far less often than company doctors who defer to the interests of an employer. But if your family doctor will make a referral to an orthopedist when the employer will only send you to Urgent Care it may be in your interests to go that route. Call us and we’ll push the Industrial Commission to get you reimbursed.

In particular it can make a lot of sense to see your own doctor and put it on your health insurance if your employer and their adjuster are dragging their feet on sending you to a doctor.