Dealing with a workers' compensation claim can be stressful but two things are very important and will make it easier to manage. These things are 1) documentation and 2) organization.
It is important for a person who has a workers' compensation claim to document everything, beginning with important facts about your injury. Everything that occurs in your claim - medical appointments, telephone calls, payments, etc - should be documented in a log. It does not have to be fancy - a school notebook works best for most people. Keep all the documents that you receive on your claim (whether it is paper correspondence or emails). It is also important to get work notes or disability slips from all medical providers. I suggest to our clients that they keep all medical appointments on a calendar as this makes mileage reimbursement submissions a snap!
Now that you have all of this documentation, what do you do with it? Organize it! Whether you are handling the claim yourself or have an attorney assisting you, organizing your documents will make handling the claim easier. Keeping medical records and work notes separate from claim correspondence and prescriptions receipts is so important. You can find divided file pockets just about everywhere - I bought some recently at the dollar store! Having your documents organized and easy to reference, really makes a difference.