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Trust is the number one factor in any relationship. Most of the medical providers I have worked with have stories of being mistreated by lawyers. They complain of lawyers that lied about settlements, did not honor their letters of protection, asked for outrageous reductions, etc. Sometimes the provider has been burned enough that they refuse to work personal injury cases ever again. I get angry with the lawyers that have done these things, they hurt our profession.

I have been very fortunate to have several very close, trusting relationships with my providers. They often become so trusting that they stop wanting the usual paper trail of documentation, but I provide it anyway. I do things by the book all the time.

If you are a medical provider that has patients injured by third parties, your patients will likely want an attorney. You could leave the entire legal aspect of the patient’s injury up to the patient. I would suggest that doing so is bad for the patient and you. If the patient seeks a lawyer without guidance, there is a strong chance they could end up with one of the lawyers you don’t want to deal with. The average person does not know any lawyers. If they need one, they can only find out about lawyers through radio ads, television and friends. Let’s face it, people are busy. When a busy person is injured the last thing on their mind is how to shop for the “right” attorney. A better practice is to have a list of attorneys you have worked with and trust. To protect yourself, you should be sure to place a disclaimer on the list stating you are not making any statements as to the qualifications of any one lawyer over another, that the list is simply provided as a courtesy to patients. This way you increase the odds of having attorneys involved that you like, as opposed to those you don’t know or don’t like.

In dealing with attorneys, don’t ever pre-agree to a reduction or make a sweeping statement of how much you would be willing to reduce in general. Such statements set you up for a host of problems. If you pre-agree to reductions then your charged bill is overinflated from the start. Reductions, when necessary are a case by case analysis determined by the total billing and the final offer or jury award. Don’t feel bad about asking the lawyer to give you details about requested reductions. You should be able to find out what the total offer was, if there was PIP or other insurance, what the total bills were, who has reduced and such. The lawyer cannot tell you what the client is getting due to confidentiality, but if you have every number except the patient/client’s number it is easy to figure out what is happening. The important thing about reduction requests is that they be fair. Every person in the case has a vested interest in the outcome. The attorney has worked to settle it, the doctors provided valuable services, the health insurance company’s have contractual rights, and the patient/client suffered an injury. No person should be asked to suffer a disproportionate share.

There are firms out there who ask for a 50% reduction of almost every case, no matter what. I personally find this kind of request insulting. The firms that get away with it do so because they have the largest market share of clients. They can essentially force a provider to accept a huge reduction because they have the threat of not sending cases to that provider ever again. This is not a friendly business relationship of mutual trust. These firms have made the decision that business is business, and honesty, integrity and friendship have nothing to do with business.

I prefer to enjoy my relationships with the providers I work with. I enjoy having lunch with them occasionally, in letting them know the status of cases, and in getting them as much value on a case as possible, just as I try to get the best value for my client. I wish I could say I never had to seek a reduction, but it happens. When it does, I present the provider with every total except the client’s take-home. I ask only for the reduction I need to meet the client’s desired outcome and still pay all the other bills, expenses and fees. I never ask for a reduction unless I have already reduced my expected fee.

If you are a medical provider looking to establish new relationships with an honest hard working lawyer, give me a call. I’d love to come see your office, maybe have lunch, and see if we have a match of ethics, desire and drive to provide service to our mutual customer.