---
kind: "section"
citation: "20 C.F.R. § 10.316"
title: "20"
number: "10.316"
heading: "After selecting a treating physician, may an employee choose to be treated by another physician instead?"
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/20/10.316"
---

# §10.316. After selecting a treating physician, may an employee choose to be treated by another physician instead?

- (a) When the physician originally selected to provide treatment for a work-related injury refers the employee to a specialist for further medical care, the employee need not consult OWCP for approval. In all other instances, however, the employee must submit a written request to OWCP with his or her reasons for desiring a change of physician.
- (b) OWCP will approve the request if it determines that the reasons submitted are sufficient. Requests that are often approved include those for transfer of care from a general practitioner to a physician who specializes in treating conditions like the work-related one, or the need for a new physician when an employee has moved. The employer may not authorize a change of physicians.

## Notes

### Authority

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301, 8102a, 8103, 8145 and 8149; 31 U.S.C. 3716 and 3717; Reorganization Plan No. 6 of 1950, 15 FR 3174, 64 Stat. 1263; Secretary of Labor's Order No. 10-2009, 74 FR 218; Pub. L. 117-263.

### Source

Source: 76 FR 37903, June 28, 2011, unless otherwise noted.