Orthopaedic Care after a Work Accident or Injury
Orthopedic Surgery is the surgical specialty which most commonly focuses on caring for injuries to the bones, ligaments, tendons, muscles, and nerves.
After Your Accident
After an on the job accident, fall, an accidental slip or fall, or other work injury, you may be diagnosed with a fracture, dislocation, ligament and tendon injury, neck and spine injuries, cuts (lacerations) shoulder injuries, (rotator cuff tears and sprains) knee injuries (ACL and meniscus tears), foot and ankle injuries, wrist injuries, elbow injuries, and more. While not all injuries caused by traumatic accidents require surgery, surgery is generally recommended if your injuries cause a loss of function and continued pain in bones, soft tissue, or nerves.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Some fractures may need only for the bones to be put back in place and immobilized so the bones can heal themselves. We can do that in our office for you without the expense of a hospital or emergency department visit. Most open fractures (where bones are sticking out of your skin) are treated right away in a hospital emergency department or in surgery by a trauma team. They also treat significant displacement or joint involvement on arrival, but the aftercare is generally managed in our office. Non-union (when the fracture didn’t heal properly) of a previously treated fracture can be scheduled in an outpatient surgery center (ASC) and are not emergency surgeries.
Services in our office
We can do bracing, and basic imaging in our office. We share space with independent physical therapists and work as a team for your convenience. We will also refer you to other specialists we know and trust for spine, hand, feet and toe injuries, and long term pain management. or massage therapy. Our approach to pain management is one Dr Hicken pioneered using modern “multimodal” (low/no-opioid) pain control methods both before and after surgery. This increasingly popular approach for pain management lets you get back to your daily and lifestyle activities, driving, and independence, without the heavy influence of narcotics. We coordinate this multi-modal pain management with collaborating pharmacists. Just tell us your work comp authorized pharmacy and we’ll sort out the rest.
APPOINTMENT SCHEDULING
Appointment availability: Our office is open from 9am to 6pm Monday-through Friday (holidays excepted). We can usually accommodate a request for an appointment same day or within the same week. You will need to bring any x-rays or reports from your initial emergency care, if you had any.
PAYING FOR YOUR CARE AFTER A WORK INJURY
To avoid being held personally liable for your care and services, please send us copies of the front and back of your health insurance card and your notice of injury that you and your employer submitted to the workers comp insurance company, and your government-issued, photo identification (driver’s license, passport or similar).
To speed the process, please call 435-523-3378 for instructions on where and how you can email us the pictures of your ID and paperwork. Your workers comp insurance coverage must be verified and care authorized before we can schedule your appointment. We always expedite this process for someone injured in an workplace or on-the-job accident.
If you have hired an attorney, please bring the contact information so we can contact your attorney to verify their representation and make any necessary arrangements for pre-authorization before your visit, so you won’t be billed for our services. The surgery center where we perform outpatient surgeries and the physical therapists and chiropractors who work with us also cooperate with them.
You are always welcome to schedule an appointment with our providers, even if you haven’t hired an attorney. If that’s the case, we’ll call your insurance adjuster or employer for pre-authorization to treat you and bill them for your care.
CALL 435-523-3378 to SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT WITH US
Please complete and submit our patient intake form below and we will contact you shortly to schedule your appointment.