The insurance carrier will often try to terminate a worker’s benefits by sending the worker to have an independent medical examination. (IME) The doctors who perform these IMEs are often physicians who regularly prepare reports on behalf of insurance companies. They are used to preparing pro-employer reports and even testifying about these reports.
Our firm will make sure the IME report is reviewed by the claimant’s treating physician. The treating physician can often find inconsistencies or inaccuracies in the IME report.
The most common tactic is to obtain an IME to attempt to disallow a surgery or other procedure that the workers comp carrier doesn’t want to pay for. They will find a doctor to say the recommended surgery or procedure is not medically necessary.
What really helps is that the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commissioners are familiar with this tactic. The Commission usually defers to the treating physician who better knows the patient. This is especially true where the treating physician is someone the employer chose for the employee at the beginning of the treatment phase.
