Independent medical examination

What is an independent medical examination?

An IME is a one time examination by a physician retained by the defense to assess your claimed injuries. It is permitted once you put your physical condition at issue by bringing a claim.

The word independent describes the doctor's lack of treating relationship with you, not neutrality. The examiner is selected and compensated by the party opposing your claim.

Some attorneys call it a defense medical examination instead, which describes the arrangement more accurately.

Insurers may also arrange examinations before any lawsuit is filed, under the terms of the policy itself. Those serve a similar function in evaluating a claim.

What happens at the examination?

The structure differs from an ordinary medical appointment in important ways.

• There is no treatment and no doctor patient relationship
• The examination is often brief relative to the report it produces
• You will be asked about the incident, your history and your symptoms
• Range of motion and strength testing is typical
• The physician reports to the defense rather than to you

How should you approach it?

Be accurate rather than strategic in either direction. Overstating symptoms damages credibility, and minimizing them out of politeness understates the injury.

Describe your ordinary range. Good days and bad days both exist, and an accurate account of the variation is more credible than a single extreme.

Arrive on time and note the actual duration of the examination, since a report describing a thorough evaluation is harder to sustain when the appointment lasted only minutes.

Bring your history clearly in mind, including prior injuries. Inconsistency between what you tell this physician and what appears in your records is exactly what the report will highlight.

What does the report usually say?

Common conclusions are that you have reached maximum medical improvement, that findings are degenerative rather than traumatic, or that no permanent injury exists.

These reports are then used to argue against the verbal threshold and to challenge future care projections.

Your own physicians respond with their opinions, and the disagreement becomes a question for the jury rather than the end of the claim.

Common questions

Do I have to attend?

Generally yes once a claim is filed and your condition is at issue. Refusing without cause can result in sanctions or dismissal.

Can someone come with me?

Practice varies and it may require agreement or a court order. Discuss it with your attorney in advance rather than arriving with someone unannounced.

Will I get a copy of the report?

Your attorney obtains it through discovery. It is prepared for the defense, so it is not provided to you directly at the appointment.

How long does the examination usually take?

Frequently far less time than the resulting report suggests. Noting the actual start and end time is worthwhile, since a report describing a thorough evaluation is harder to sustain where the appointment lasted only minutes. Recording what was and was not examined is equally useful.