Assessing the extent of your injury's permanency can be a major factor in your case, especially in workers comp. The evaluation process begins with your doctor.
In this video, South Carolina injury attorney Rob Usry describes how doctors give you a permanent impairment rating, and what do you do with that rating once you get it.
Here's what doctors base permanent impairment on. A permanent impairment rating can be a major factor in your injury case especially if its workers comp. To give you a rating doctors refer to an American Medical Association guide which instructs them to base your rating on four things. Here’s a little more about each one.
- The most important factor is your diagnosis. Diagnosis defines your injury which also defines the disability doctors expect you to have as a result.The next factors can determine the rating from the range of ratings available in the guide.
- Functional history is your reports of symptoms and limitations from your injury. Sometimes doctors refer you for a functional capacity evaluation to help score this.
- Exam findings are based on the results of the exam the doctor does on you these exam findings can confirm the diagnosis and its severity.
- Clinical studies or medical tests like x-rays and MRIs that confirm the diagnosis and also its severity.
So what do you do once you get a rating? Well you use it to maximize the value of your case by showing the full impact of your injury on your life and your ability to work. That’s where an experienced injury attorney can often make the biggest difference for you. In fact, it's sometimes the most important thing we do in your entire case. So if you're worried about handling your injury case or have any other questions about it fill out our get help now form right on our website and get your questions answered by an experienced accident attorney. I thank you for thinking about this with me and I hope I see you soon.
