An IME is a objective medical, dental or psychiatric examination to evaluate the causal relationship between an incident and a disease process to establish the cause and effect relation between the two. High-quality examinations provide unbiased, accurate and medically sound information.
Doctors performing IME's must be licensed to practice in:
o Medicine & Surgery,
o Osteopathic Medicine & Surgery,
o Podiatric Medicine & Surgery,
o Chiropractic, or
o Dentistry.
Approved doctors are not obligated to accept examination assignments, nor are doctors guaranteed referrals.
Doctors performing IMEs must know about:
? The purpose of an IME.
? IME provider number.
? Qualifications of an approved provider.
? Responsibilities during the examination.
? Completion of job analysis.
? Ongoing treatment for the worker.
? Responsibilities regarding testimony.
? How complaints are handled.
? Rating systems to use.
? Information to include in the report.
? Fee schedule for IMEs.
? IMEs for impairment rating only.
