The biggest money trap is letting the company clinic control your medical record from day one.

Picture a Baltimore machine operator whose hand gets caught in a press near Dundalk. The supervisor sends him to the employer's clinic, the clinic writes "light duty tomorrow," and the insurer uses that note to choke off wage benefits. Meanwhile, his own orthopedist later finds tendon damage and work restrictions the clinic glossed over. That gap can cost real money fast.

In Maryland, you generally can choose your own treating doctor for a work injury. Your employer or its insurer does not get to own your treatment just because they sent you somewhere first. They can ask for an independent medical exam, but that doctor is not automatically your treating doctor, and you do not have to build your whole case around the employer's handpicked clinic.

The rules that matter:

• Report the injury to your employer immediately and file your claim with the Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission fast. Delay is where insurers start their favorite lie: "This wasn't serious" or "This wasn't work-related."
• If your doctor takes you completely off work, you may be owed temporary total disability benefits, usually two-thirds of your average weekly wage.
• If you miss more than 14 days, Maryland can require payment for the first 3 days too.
• Reasonable medical treatment tied to the injury should be covered, including specialists, imaging, therapy, and prescriptions.
• Keep every work note. If your doctor gives restrictions and your employer cannot accommodate them, that matters.

For Baltimore workers at warehouses off I-95, shipyard jobs, hospital maintenance, or defense-contractor sites tied to Fort Meade, this right gets buried on purpose. The employer wants the cheapest paper trail. You want a doctor who documents what is really wrong.