Frequently Asked Questions

Usually within the same week, and often sooner for a new injury. Call (317) 991-5710 and say it is a new accident or work injury — timing matters clinically and it matters to the documentation, so those get prioritised. We are open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM and Tuesday 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

No. You can contact us directly. Under FECA, injured federal employees make their own initial choice of treating physician, and personal injury patients are free to choose their own provider as well. Some health insurance plans require a referral for their own coverage purposes, so check your plan if you intend to bill it.

A history — how the injury happened, in detail, because the mechanism matters both clinically and evidentially. Then a physical examination including range of motion and orthopaedic and neurological testing, review of any imaging you already have, and imaging on site if it is indicated. You leave with a working diagnosis, a treatment plan, and a clear explanation of what gets documented and sent where. Expect it to take longer than a routine visit.

The first visit runs longest because of the history, examination and paperwork. Follow-up treatment visits are considerably shorter. We will tell you what to expect for your specific plan at the initial evaluation rather than giving you a number that turns out to be wrong.

It depends on the injury, its severity and how you respond. We will give you an expected range at the evaluation and revisit it as you progress. Two things we will not do: keep you in care longer than the injury warrants, or commit you to a long block of visits before we have seen how you respond. A record padded with unnecessary visits is bad medicine and, in a claim, a credibility problem.

We are at 7430 Shadeland Ave #230, Indianapolis, IN 46250, on Floor 1 of the Shadeland Medical Center on the northeast side. Parking is free and on site. The office is roughly fifteen minutes from Fishers and Carmel via I-465 and I-69.

This is the right question to ask, and the honest answer is that it depends on what authorised the treatment. A Form CA-16 guarantees payment to the provider for 60 days from the date of injury whether or not the claim is later accepted, which is exactly why we press people to request one early. Treatment outside a CA-16 on a claim that is ultimately denied has to be resolved another way — health insurance, or an arrangement with us. Raise it at your consultation and we will tell you where you stand before you start, not after.

The CA-16 authorisation runs 60 days from the date of injury. If your claim has been accepted by then, authorised treatment for the accepted conditions continues to be billed to the Department of Labor and nothing changes for you. If the claim is still pending, treatment continues but payment is not guaranteed in the same way until a decision comes through. We track those dates and will tell you when yours is approaching.

Where medical payments coverage applies, yes — MedPay on your own auto policy pays accident medical bills regardless of fault, and many Indiana drivers have it without realising. The at-fault driver's liability insurer is different: it generally pays once, at settlement, rather than funding treatment along the way. We will identify which applies to you at the consultation. How accident treatment gets paid in Indiana →

Physician-side OWCP forms — the CA-16, CA-17 and CA-20 — are part of treating a federal workers' compensation patient and are completed in-house as part of your care. Extended narrative reports requested by an attorney or an insurer are handled case by case; ask and we will tell you plainly before any work is done.

Yes. Self-pay is available, and for an accident case a letter of protection from an attorney can cover treatment out of an eventual settlement instead. Start with the free consultation so we can look at which route actually fits your situation — people often have coverage available to them, such as MedPay or uninsured motorist coverage, that they did not know they had.

Yes, and keeping them properly separated is the important part. They are different systems with different payers, and the records have to distinguish clearly which condition belongs to which event. Blurring them is how a federal claim gets a denial for an unrelated condition and how an accident claim gets discounted as pre-existing. Tell us about both at the outset so the documentation is clean from the start rather than untangled later.

They are separate systems with separate eligibility. VA healthcare relates to your service; FECA and OWCP cover injuries sustained while working as a federal civilian employee — including at a VA facility, which is a common situation for VA staff. A work injury is handled under OWCP regardless of veteran status. Because the interaction depends on your circumstances, confirm specifics with your VA coordinator and your OWCP district office.

Generally not FECA. Federal workers' compensation covers civilian employees of the United States government, and contractors are usually employed by the contracting company rather than the agency. Your coverage most likely runs through your employer's workers' compensation policy, which in Indiana means the state system — or another federal scheme depending on the work. We treat these injuries; the difference is who gets billed and which documentation standard applies, and we will sort that out at the consultation.

Patients travel to us from across Central Indiana and, for the nerve pain work in particular, from further out. Under FECA you are not restricted to providers near your home or duty station, so distance is a practical question rather than a rules question. The practical question is real though: a course of treatment means repeat visits, and gaps in treatment caused by a long drive hurt both recovery and a claim. Call and we will be honest about whether the travel makes sense for your case.

We refer. Surgical opinions, nerve conduction studies, advanced imaging, psychiatric care and anything outside chiropractic scope go to the appropriate provider, and for federal patients the FECA scope limits make that boundary a formal one rather than a preference. Co-management is normal and we would rather refer early than stretch a case beyond what we should be treating.