JOHN L. MCKINNEY, APPELLANT,
v.
MCKINNEY FARMS AND FLORIDA FARM BUREAU, APPELLEES
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Florida appellate court reversed denial of workers' compensation benefits for medical treatment and hospitalization, holding that referrals made by an authorized treating physician in the normal exercise of medical judgment constitute compensable treatment even without prior carrier authorization.
Referrals made by an authorized treating physician in the exercise of medical judgment are in the normal progression of authorized treatment and are compensable under workers' compensation law.
[1] Referrals made by an authorized treating physician in the exercise of independent medical judgment constitute compensable treatment in the normal progression of authorize…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the referral to Dr. Thoburn and the subsequent hospitalization and referral to Dr. Cauthen by Dr. Thoburn were in the normal progression of authorized treatment and the carrier is financially responsible for them”
Court's holding on compensability of physician-initiated referrals
McKinney was referred to Dr. Thoburn by his authorized treating physician, who then referred him to Dr. Cauthen and authorized hospitalization at Nort…
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MILLS, Chief Judge.
John L. McKinney appeals an order of the Judge of Industrial Claims finding that the treatment of Dr. Robert Thoburn and Dr. Joseph C. Cauthen and hospitalization at the North Florida Regional Hospital In Gainesville were not compensable because the medical care was not in the normal progression of authorized treatment. We reverse.
The record clearly shows that the referral of McKinney to Dr. Thoburn was made by the authorized treating physician in the exercise of his own judgment and not at the request of the claimant. Thus, the facts are distinguishable from those present in Devco Millwork Installation v. Secord, IRC Order 2-3315 (January 12, 1977), where the claimant requested that his authorized physician make a referral. We hold that under these facts the referral to Di;. Thoburn and the subsequent hospitalization and referral to Dr. Cauthen by Dr. Thoburn were in the normal progression of authorized treatment and the carrier is financially responsible for them.
For future cases, however, • we suggest that the authorized physician contact the carrier and secure authorization before subjecting it to financial responsibility for such treatment and hospitalization.
Reversed and remanded to the Deputy Commissioner with directions that she enter an order consistent with this opinion.
McCORD, J., concurs.
BOOTH, J., dissents.
BOOTH, Judge,
dissenting.
I dissent from this court’s retention of jurisdiction in this case, which arose outside the territorial jurisdiction of the court. See Crews v. Town of Bay Harbor, 378 So. 2d 1265 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979).
On the merits, I would concur in the majority’s opinion.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Jones v. Plantation Foods, 388 So. 2d 590 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980)…berg saw Jones eleven times,- some of those visits were for testing and evaluation and others were for treatment. Dr. Stern-berg was authorized by virtue of the referral to him by the authorized physician, Dr. Teitelbaum. McKinney v. McKinney Farms, 380 So. 2d 469 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980). The authorization extended, however, only to the evaluation and not to the treatments. We would order the payment of Dr. Sternberg’s bills based on the above holding if it were not for the fact that he failed to timely submit t…
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Atkins v. Greenhut Constr. Co., 447 So. 2d 268 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983)…Appellant also asserts that it was error for the deputy to deny payment of the medical bills of Dr. Dell and Shands Hospital for the surgery performed by Dr. Dell in February, 1980. We affirm the deputy on this point. In McKinney v. McKinney Farms, 380 So. 2d 469 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980), we held that where referral of a claimant to a doctor is made by an authorized treating physician in exercise of his own judgment, and not at the request of the claimant, that referral and subsequent hospitalization and referral…
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Nw. Orient Airlines & Underwriters Adjusting Co. v. Gonzalez, 500 So. 2d 699 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)…ent substantial evidence, it must be reversed. However, assuming arguendo that the finding of causal connection was correct, we still must reverse on the ground that Dr. Levitt’s treatment was unauthorized by the E/C. In McKinney v. McKinney Farms, 380 So. 2d 469 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980), we held that, where the referral of a claimant to a doctor is made by an authorized treating physician in the exercise of his own judgment and not at the request of the claimant, referral and subsequent hospitalization are in th…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Emerson Crews v. Town OF BAY Harbor Islands & Metro. Dade Cnty. Self Ins. Fund, 378 So. 2d 1265 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979)