If your hand was injured using a power tool on Jefferson Boulevard in Warwick, you usually treat with your own doctor, not one picked by your boss.

The next question you should be asking is: has your employer reported the injury to its workers' compensation insurer, or are they trying to push the bill onto your health insurance?

In Rhode Island, an employer cannot make you use your personal insurance for a work injury just because it is year-end or they want to avoid a claim. Workers' compensation is supposed to pay reasonable and necessary medical treatment and wage benefits if you miss enough time.

Tell every provider the injury happened at work. Ask the office to bill the workers' compensation carrier, not your regular health plan. If the employer has not given you the carrier information, ask for:

• the insurance company name
• the claim number
• the date the injury was reported

Rhode Island law generally requires you to notify your employer within 30 days of the injury. Do that in writing if you have not already. If your employer stalls, the agency that oversees the system is the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, and disputes are handled through the Workers' Compensation Court in Cranston.

An insurer can send you to an IME - an independent medical exam - with a doctor it chooses. That doctor is evaluating you for the insurer. The IME doctor is not automatically your treating doctor and does not replace your own treatment.

Do not create a long gap in treatment unless a doctor tells you to stop. In Rhode Island, gaps are often used to argue you were not badly hurt. The same is true if you had an old back, knee, or hand problem: a pre-existing condition does not block benefits if the work incident aggravated it, but the records need to show that clearly.

If the claim is denied, do not wait out the winter. A Rhode Island workers' compensation claim usually must be pursued within 2 years of the injury.