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What's an "IME" mean to me?

An independent medical examination, or "IME" is an evaluation performed by a doctor who is not involved in the patient’s care for the purpose of evaluating personal injury claims in worker's compensation case and other types of lawsuits.

Most IMEs are conducted to evaluate claims of orthopedic injuries like "whiplash," back and shoulder injuries. In these cases, there are three scenarios in which an IME is typically conducted:

• In an accident case, the defendant and/or his liability insurance carrier may request an IME of the plaintiff to determine the legitimacy of claimed injuries, as well as the nature, extent and cause of such injuries
• In a worker’s compensation case, the insurance carrier or self-insured employer may seek an independent medical examination to see whether the patient’s medical condition is work-related and to assess the level of any permanent injury sustained
• In a personal injury suit, the plaintiff's own lawyer may solicit the opinion of another specialist so that the specialist may lend helpful expert testimony at trial. Though plaintiffs usually call their treating physicians as expert witnesses, their attorneys may prefer a medical expert that is better versed in the field, a better communicator on the witness stand, or, in many cases, is much more cooperative and tolerant of the litigation process

Except for the last of these scenarios, it's important to bear in mind that the "IME doctor" isn't your personal physician, has only been retained to evaluate your claims, and is working on behalf of an insurance carrier with the hope of defeating your claims. Skeptics actually criticize this process by arguing that the independent medical examination is neither independent nor a true medical examination. Because these doctors are hired by one side or another with the expectation that they may serve as helpful expert witnesses, these critics question the independence of the evaluation. Others contend that it is not a true examination in cases where the IME doctor rushes through the physical examination, focusing only on the problems articulated in the case and failing to get a full health picture.

Yet, as Dr. Franchetti demonstrated in this video, a properly-conducted IME allows the physician to evaluate the legitimacy of claimed injuries, their cause, the nature and extent of any permanent injury and what, if any, future treatment may be required. All of these issues are highly relevant to a personal injury case, requiring the testimony of a qualified physician to help admit such evidence at trial.