CAN I CHOOSE MY OWN DOCTOR ON MY OWCP CLAIM?

Yes and No

Federal employees who are injured on their job have the right to choose who is their treating physician. Title 5 USC 8103.

However, federal employees are rarely if ever informed of this fact.

Instead it is common for the federal employer to quickly send an injured employee off to the federal employer's own "hired" doctor. If the employee goes to that doctor, for example, to obtain emergency treatment, that doctor is not necessarily the chosen treating physician of the employee for that one visit. The employee still has by law his initial choice to make of whom will be his treating physician. However, if the employee then returns for a follow up visit to the employer's doctor, then that employer doctor may become the treating physician as the employee is considered to have "chosen" to return to that doctor.

If that happens then the employee can only change to another doctor by filing a written request with the US Department of Labor who may or may not approve the change at its sole discretion.

For federal employees injured on the job it is vital to understand and know that the choice of a treating doctor is their own. The federal employer cannot "force" the employee to go to one specific doctor of the employer's choice. However the federal employer may send an injured employee to the employer's own selected doctor when the employee is first injured. If then the employee chooses to return to that employer doctor, knowingly or unknowingly, that employer doctor now becomes the employee's chosen doctor for medical treatment.