Doctor Will Not Respond

Rockie · February 2004

I've not had this happen before, so maybe you guys can help me out.

I have an employee who has been out on FMLA for a while. One of her physicians(Primary care) has stated that she can return to work. Since this is a psychological situation, I did not feel comfortable returning her to work without a second opinion from a psychologist.(This may turn into an ADA as well as FMLA situation). The employee agreed to this. This was a week ago when the employee saw the doctor. The doctor has not responded to a request for an assessment or a return to work statement.

Meanwhile, the employee continues to burn FMLA while we are waiting for the assessment. What's
the next step here?

Employee stated she has contacted the physician to send the return to work and assessment and the doctor has not returned her calls either.

HELP!

Don D · February 2004

I'm afraid that the psychologist thinks you might want a narrative assessment of her case, which he will not give you, and I'm sure you didn't ask for. I think I might write a short letter to the clinic explaining only what you want and perhaps highlighting that on the FML form. Tell him exactly what you want and emphasize that you are not asking for anything beyond that. Surely he has had other slient FML events in his practice. I know that your board will not allow you to, but you could always post a notice on your bulletin board identifying his clinic as one which will not assist patients with required paperwork. That always strikes a nerve in the medical community since it can impact Ferrari (sp) payments.

Rockie · February 2004

Thanks Don. I wonder how he will react when I ignore his bill????

Don D · February 2004

Why would you get the bill?

Rockie · February 2004

Because it was a second opinion. Employee agreed to go to another physician.

jennifer jo · February 2004

Rockie, I recently had a similar situation. Has the ee signed a release for the Dr. to talk to you? Also, I wrote the Drs.' myself, enclosed a copy of the job description and asked the Drs. to write just a short note stating that ee was released to work. It worked out well!

Doctor Will Not Respond

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