An independent medical examination is an unbiased exam of an injured person from a third-party professional to be used in a legal claim. If your current situation requires that you take an independent medical exam or IME for short, you may feel a bit nervous about the process.
To ensure that the medical professional comes to the right conclusion based on their assessment of your injuries, there are some helpful things that you can do. Follow these tips to make your IME go smoothly.
1. Come Prepared
This medical exam can greatly affect your quality of life from here on out. It can affect the quality and quantity of care you receive for your injuries, the future of your career, and your financial situation.
To ensure that you get the best results from this exam, it is vital that you come prepared.
Days before you head to your appointment, thoroughly review your case. This can help you wrap your head around the circumstances of the event before you are bombarded with questions from the examiner.
Speaking of questions, it might be a good idea to have an idea of what questions you may encounter. Here is a short list of possible questions the examiner will ask you.
It may be best to write out a timeline of when, how, and what exactly happened leading up to the event. Bring documentation of the injuries and any residual pains or injuries that came afterward.
Look over any paperwork related to the injury and claim to refresh your memory. Have all your medical records up to date and in hand.
On the day of your exam, show up slightly early to your appointment to show that you take this process seriously.
2. Don’t Take Things Personally
Remember that the examiner is a third-party, unbiased professional simply doing his job. Any questions that he asks are purely based on the information given to him by the insurance company and not an attack on you personally.
The examiner’s job is to assess your injuries and the evidence present that shows the cause of your injuries. This information is meant to either deny your claim or be in favor of it.
If you are disrespectful to the examiner, it may affect the examiner’s judgment. As unbiased as the examiner is supposed to be, they are human and their feelings can sway what they write on your IME report.
Being courteous and friendly will only help your case.
3. Be Honest
Along the same lines, you will want to always be honest in answering any questions asked by the examiner. Even a small lie that they catch can cause you to lose any credibility in the case.
Thoroughly preparing before you go to your case, as brought out in point #1 can help you to answer all questions correctly. It can be difficult to remember specific times and dates connected to a painful accident or injury.
Refreshing your memory and even taking down notes can help to ensure that you don’t inadvertently give the examiner a false statement that can come back to haunt you.
4. Enlist the Help of a Professional
The IME is a very important part of the insurance company’s research into your claim. If they can, they will find and use any small inconsistency to deny your claim.
The insurance company has a team of professionals and adjusters versed in insurance terminology looking into your claim. Shouldn’t you have someone on your side doing the same?
There are many people who deserve coverage due to car accidents or some other type of injury that are denied their rightful financial compensation from their insurance.
The number of motorcycle accidents alone will astound you. Learn more about that here.
However, those who are represented by a knowledgeable personal injury lawyer have a better chance at getting their claim approved. These attorneys face down insurance companies on a regular basis and they know how to defend their clients.
5. Bring a Friend
Another layer of protection that you can add to your claim is to bring a friend or family member to your independent medical exam.
They can’t help you answer the questions but they can be there to ensure that everything is done to the letter and to take any notes on what is discussed and any conclusions that the doctor makes.
Conclusion
Many times, a person has to complete an IME in order to back their claim of becoming injured on the job or in an accident that is covered by insurance.
Insurance companies want proof of your need for requested coverage before they will shell out hefty amounts of money to cover medical bills or disability benefits.
Following the above tips can help improve your odds of getting financial justice for your injuries, whether they were due to negligence in the workplace or an automotive accident.