Independent Medical Exams And Worker's Compensation Claims: A Primer

If you have made a worker's compensation claim, your insurance company will most likely have you submit to an Independent Medical Exam, or IME. During this examination, you will be subject to inquiry about your medical history and will have to submit to a physical by a doctor that is hired by the insurance company to judge the extent of the injury or injuries that occurred on-site or because of your job. Throughout the course of this brief guide, you will learn a little bit about dealing with this experience.

Bring A Friend Or Family Member To The Exam

It is imperative that you do not go to the exam alone. Bring a close friend or family member to the exam with you and explain the process of an IME. Make sure that your friend takes notes during the examination, including what sort of questions the physician asks you about your health and cause of your injuries, what sort of tests the doctor performed, and any other details you or the third party believe are necessary.

Countering A Bad Or False Report

If the physician in question filed a report that you believe to be falsified, hyperbolic, or understated in any way, especially about the state of your injuries, how you answered the questions during your exam, or the state of any preexisting health conditions you have, there are a few things that you can do to counter this bad report.

First and foremost, you can ask about and question the relationship between the insurance company and doctor. While your provider does not necessarily have to part with any information, such as how many referrals the doctor receives from the insurance company and how much the doctor in question is paid for an IME, it may make the provider a bit defensive and realize that if the matter goes before a worker's compensation tribunal, they will have to provide this information in a public forum.

Secondly, make sure that you have a complete copy of the physician's report. Demand a full copy of the physician's report and not an abridged version completed by the adjuster. If the report in question is patently false or puts you in a bad light at all, you may want to consider hiring your own physician to attend to your health and write a response.

If you believe that you've been wronged during your IME or have been painted in a bad light in your IME report, you may wish to hire the services of a worker's compensation attorney like one from The Reed Noble Law Firm PLLC.

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