What is Form LS-204?
What is Form LS-204?
Where it fits
Your physician's initial report is submitted on the LS-1 within 10 days of first treatment. After that, reports are made regularly on the LS-204, or in narrative form, for as long as you're under care.
What it communicates
A supplementary report tells everyone involved where you stand right now: your current condition and findings, the treatment you're receiving, your work status and restrictions, and whether your condition is improving, stable, or worsening.
Why it matters to you
Because the carrier makes decisions off it. Whether your compensation continues, whether therapy is extended, whether your restrictions are honored. All of it turns on a current medical report saying so.
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When those reports stop arriving, benefits stall. Not because anyone decided you were better, but because nobody has current documentation saying you aren't. Gaps in reporting are one of the most common and most avoidable causes of interrupted benefits.
Narrative reports
Some situations call for more than a form such as complex injuries, causation disputes, a permanent impairment. A narrative report can state the history, the objective findings, the clinical reasoning connecting the injury to the condition, and the functional consequences in a way a checkbox form can't.
What we do
We file supplementary reports on schedule for as long as you're under our care, and we write narratives when the situation calls for one. Attorneys and adjusters can request records from us and get them within one business day.
A note on retaliation
Under the Act it is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against or fire an employee solely for filing a compensation claim or for testifying in an LHWCA proceeding. Workers hesitate to report injuries for exactly this reason, and it's worth knowing the protection is written into the law.
What we do
We produce return-to-work documentation the same day it's ready and send it to every party who needs it: employer, adjuster, and case manager. Without waiting to be asked.
Navigating Your Medical Rights
Under the LHWCA, you have the right to choose your own physician. You are not required to see a doctor selected by your employer or insurance carrier. This ensures your medical care is focused solely on your recovery and accurate documentation of your injury.
Have questions about your claim or need a medical evaluation?