---
kind: "section"
citation: "20 C.F.R. § 30.405"
title: "20"
number: "30.405"
heading: "After selecting a treating physician, may an employee choose to be treated by another physician instead?"
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/20/30.405"
---

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

- (a) OWCP will provide the employee with an opportunity to designate a treating physician when it accepts the claim. When the physician originally selected to provide treatment for an occupational illness or a covered illness 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 credible and supported by probative factual and/or medical evidence, as appropriate. Requests that are often approved include those for transfer of care from a general practitioner to a physician who specializes in treating the occupational illnesses or covered illnesses covered by EEOICPA, or the need for a new physician when an employee has moved.
- (c) OWCP may deny a requested change of physician if it determines that the reasons submitted are not both credible and supported by probative evidence. If a claimant disagrees with such an informal denial, he or she may utilize the adjudicatory process described in subpart D of this part.

## Notes

### Amendments

[71 FR 78534, Dec. 29, 2006, as amended at 84 FR 3052, Feb. 8, 2019]

### Authority

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 31 U.S.C. 3716 and 3717; 42 U.S.C. 7384d, 7384t, 7384u and 7385s-10; Executive Order 13179, 65 FR 77487, 3 CFR, 2000 Comp., p. 321; Secretary of Labor's Order No. 10-2009, 74 FR 58834.

### Source

Source: 71 FR 78534, Dec. 29, 2006, unless otherwise noted.

### Amendments

[71 FR 78534, Dec. 29, 2006, as amended at 84 FR 3052, Feb. 8, 2019]