IME and Personal Injury

• Many times a person will slip and fall at a store and then run to a lawyer who in turn has a favorite doctor he sends patients to. The doctor examines the patients and tends to do so in their favor. Likewise, many insurance companies are also fond of certain doctors. Therefore to find the least bias, the parties send the patient to an independent doctor for an independent medical examination.
  
  

Types of Personal Injury Claims and IMEs

• Average personal injury lawyers take cases on a contingent fee basis. This means that they tend to believe their clients have suffered enough of an injury to put the time in the claim to get at least a nice chunk of any settlement. Lawyers who work in personal injury, medical malpractice and workman's compensation only make money if they win. This is called a contingent fee and is about 38 percent, depending on the state plus costs of filings and such peripheral expenses.
  
  Putting time and money into these claims is impetus enough for most attorneys to only take on legitimate cases, though there are so-called ambulance chasers who will take anything and make a case. This is why the IME is so important; the examiner ascertains exactly where the patient stands.
  
  

Medical Endpoint

• A medical endpoint is the point at which medical intervention can no longer improve an injury. In the United States, any insured person facing the prospect of paying out money for an injury, particularly when it has ongoing costs or punitive damage for a permanent injury, has the right to request an independent medical examination.
  
  Medical endpoint is a very particular issue with insurance payouts as they can significantly increase the value or conversely decrease the value of a claim. In other words, the more severe and permanent the IME determines the injury or wound to be, the higher the payout.
  
  

Workmen's Compensation Claims

• Some workers suffer injuries making them unable to continue working. In workmen's compensation claims, the insurer or employer has the legal right to ask for an independent medical examination. This is especially true with permanent injuries that will cost their insurance companies a lot of money and will raise their premiums and have ongoing responsibility to the injured party.
  
  An IME is designed to give an unbiased opinion of the injuries, the prognosis and the cause.
  
  Should an independent medical examiner find there is no injury or the injury present was pre-existing, caused by something other than what the patient is claiming or is healed, the employer and their agents have every right to close the claim without making any payments.
  
  

Preparing for an IME

• If you have an injury and have been asked to go to an independent medical examiner, you will usually be represented by an attorney who will, along with his doctors, prepare you for what to do and say. They will not tell you to lie, but they may direct you.
  
  In more severe injuries, there is no preparation. The physician is going to write a report as she sees fit. Should the report be contrary to what you like or should there be suspicions of bias, either party retains the right to request a secondary independent medical examination.