What is AMCARE at Amazon, and Is It Your Doctor?

AMCARE cleared you, but you’re still hurt?

Call us today. Tell us what happened at AMCARE and what the record says. I’ll tell you what it could mean for your Virginia workers’ compensation case.

Corey R. PollardWorkers’ compensation attorney · Former insurance defense · $100M+ recovered

Quick answer. AMCARE is Amazon’s onsite health clinic, meant only to provide first aid to injured workers. It is not a doctor’s office; it is not one of the panel physicians that Virginia workers’ comp law requires Amazon to offer you; and workers’ compensation may still cover your injury even if AMCARE says you are “cleared” to return to work.

A United States Senate investigation found evidence that AMCARE staff often blame workers for their injuries, fail to use the physician hotline available to them, and refuse to refer workers to outside medical providers. So report the injury there, make sure the written report says what actually happened, and then see a real doctor from the panel.

The rest of how an Amazon workers’ comp claim works, including Sedgwick and Amazon’s leave and light-duty programs, is on the Amazon workers’ comp page. This page is only about AMCARE.

What AMCARE is and who works there

AMCARE is the onsite health clinic that Amazon operates inside some of its fulfillment and sortation centers and larger delivery stations. When you get hurt on the floor, your manager sends you there. I’ve even heard stories of managers accompanying injured workers to AMCARE, presumably to control the information the employee reports. For many employees, it’s the first and sometimes the only medical contact they have after a work injury.

AMCARE is staffed by what Amazon calls onsite medical representatives and injury prevention specialists. In Amazon’s own job postings, an onsite medical representative is a position for EMTs, paramedics, and athletic trainers, not physicians, physician assistants, or nurse practitioners. An injury prevention specialist must be a certified athletic trainer.

These AMCARE staff members should have a limited purpose: administering first aid care. OSHA defines first aid as medical attention provided immediately after an injury, at the location where it happened. It consists of one-time, short-term treatment that requires little training to administer.

AMCARE hours

Amazon employees I’ve spoken with at large sortation centers in Virginia that run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, report that AMCARE is open around the clock. You’re unlikely to avoid your manager asking you to visit AMCARE after an on-the-job injury at Amazon.

If AMCARE is closed when you’re hurt, report the injury to a manager in writing and go to the emergency room or an urgent care. The report, not the clinic, is what starts the claim; a work injury treated at the ER is covered the same way, and the bill gets sorted out afterward.

What AMCARE can and can’t do

AMCARE can clean a minor cut or scrape; ice, wrap, or tape a work injury; offer non-prescription medication; apply bandages; call a physician or nurse hotline; or refer you for outside care.

But AMCARE should not diagnose your injury; order an X-ray, MRI, or other diagnostic imaging; prescribe medication; give work restrictions that mean anything under the Workers’ Compensation Act; or decide whether you have a compensable injury covered under the Act.

AMCARE’s “clearance” to return to work does not count as a medical release either. Only your authorized treating physician can set or change your restrictions. Amazon also can’t fire you for reporting an injury or using AMCARE for one; if it does, that’s a claim of its own, covered on the unlawful retaliation page.

AMCARE red flags: signs you should get outside medical treatment and pursue your claim

If one or more of these AMCARE scenarios seems familiar, your health and receipt of workers’ compensation benefits may be at risk. These situations come from cases that I have handled and media and Congressional investigations.

AMCARE asks you to follow up

AMCARE’s role is one-time first aid, not ongoing medical attention. Asking you to return multiple times for a checkup suggests AMCARE is acting inappropriately and outside its role; you should be referred to an outside provider.

Investigations found that some AMCARE staff asked injured employees to return multiple times for treatment, waiting three weeks before referring them for outside care. These types of delays can devastate your recovery if you suffer a head injury and develop post-concussion syndrome, or if a fracture leads to infection.

AMCARE says you don’t need to go to the doctor

AMCARE staff may tell you that you don’t need to see a doctor or should not ask for a panel of physicians. Ignore these comments. As the United States Senate’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions found, there is evidence “that AMCARE staff obstruct workers’ ability to obtain medical care beyond first aid when their injuries require it,” and these “practices prolong workers’ recovery times and, in some cases, exacerbate their injuries.” You can read that report here.

Investigators also found a “Day 1 Send Out” paper, leading the Senate to conclude that Amazon had a practice of instructing AMCARE staff not to refer an injured worker for outside medical treatment under workers’ comp on the day the person reports the injury.

If the injury happened at work, you are entitled to treatment from a physician on the panel Amazon must offer you, regardless of what AMCARE says. Virginia’s panel rule, and what happens when an employer doesn’t offer a panel, is explained on the panel of physicians page.

AMCARE or your manager questions whether the injury happened at work or blames you for causing it

I’ve heard about Amazon managers and even AMCARE staff who try to shift blame onto workers for workplace injuries. This behavior ranges from pulling surveillance footage of the incident to tell the employee they lifted the wrong way, which is why they were hurt, to saying the employee is faking the injury or how bad the symptoms are, to referring to the employee’s physical condition or age as the cause, to quizzing them on any pre-existing conditions. This hostility is not right.

AMCARE staff refuses to call a physician or nurse

Investigations indicate that AMCARE staff members have access to a physician or nurse hotline and should use it when the situation is beyond their level of expertise. Ask the staff member to use the hotline. If they refuse, this is a red flag.

If AMCARE does not give you the panel, here’s who should.

In my experience, AMCARE will not be on the panel of physicians for your case and usually doesn’t give you the list to choose from. Instead, the panel comes from Amazon’s Human Resources (HR) or safety staff, or from Sedgwick once it receives notice of your claim. Sedgwick is Amazon’s third-party claims administrator in Virginia. The Sedgwick page explains how it handles a claim and what to expect from its adjusters.

Ask for it in writing the day you report the injury. If nobody from Amazon or on its behalf offers you a panel within a reasonable amount of time, you can choose your own doctor. That doctor becomes your authorized treating physician if you prove a compensable injury.

Warning: The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission has not created a bright-line rule for how long Amazon and other employers have to provide a panel. Some judicial opinions, however, suggest that if the employer waits one week or more after receiving notice of the injury, the claimant can choose their own treating physician. Robinson v. Dynaelectric Company, VWC File No. 170-12-48 (December 9, 1995); Hauser v. Accurate Appliance, Inc., VWC File No. 173-70-03 (December 27, 1995). Talk with an attorney before deciding whether to ignore a late-offered panel.  

Two things at AMCARE often trip people up at this stage.

First, AMCARE may refer you to an outside clinic, usually a nearby occupational-medicine practice like Concentra. The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act does not require you to agree to go to that clinic because AMCARE is not your authorized treating physician and you have not received a panel. Instead, ask for the panel so that you can research your options and pick the doctor with the best reputation not only for providing medical treatment but also for cooperating with requests during litigation.

Second, AMCARE may tell you to “follow up with your own doctor.” Ask for a panel anyway. I’ve seen this situation play out before with many employers and insurers. Ultimately, the insurance adjuster will provide a panel. Then you will be left with a choice: go to your regular doctor or choose from the panel. If you decide to ignore the panel, you may ultimately win on this issue before the Commission. But the insurer could argue that treatment outside the panel is unauthorized. You don’t need that fight when you are trying to recover.

The AMCARE record still has a role in your case

Although the law does not restrict you to treatment with AMCARE for your work injury, the first report from AMCARE can affect your case. Think of it as a workplace injury report, the first thing the Sedgwick adjuster reads when receiving your claim, or the insurance defense attorney hired by Amazon looks to discredit your case. Everything you say afterward – in written interrogatories, at deposition, to your doctors, and at the workers’ comp hearing – will be compared to that initial AMCARE record. Any discrepancies or inaccurate descriptions can hurt your claim.

Before you leave AMCARE, ask for a copy of the note and make sure it says: what you were doing before the injury, what happened, when it happened, where in the Amazon facility it occurred (so you can request surveillance footage of the incident during workers’ comp discovery), each body part injured, and that you requested a panel of doctors. Do not limit yourself to reporting the “worst injury”; if more than one body part hurts or is sore, name each one. I’ve handled many cases where the insurer accepted one body part but disputed another because it was not named in the initial record.

Important: Get a copy of the AMCARE report and file a claim with Sedgwick and the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission on your own. One source in the Senate report claimed that AMCARE will not log injury reports until it’s obvious the worker cannot return to work.

Don’t say to AMCARE: “I’m fine,” “it’s probably nothing,” “I hurt it before,” or “I didn’t see what happened” when you did. Each of those shows up later in a denial letter.

AMCARE staff writes the record in their own words, not yours. But ask to see it. If any information is wrong or incomplete, say so in writing the same day, to your manager and to AMCARE, and keep a copy.

AMCARE said you were fine. You’re not.

Call me to talk about the AMCARE record and your doctor’s note. I’ll tell you where the claim stands and what the carrier is likely to do next.

Get a free case review.

About the authorCorey Pollard is a Virginia workers’ compensation and Social Security Disability attorney in Richmond. Best Lawyers in America® (2020–2026), $100M+ recovered, and a former insurance defense lawyer — which is the part that matters.