Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment

As a physiatrist performing an average of one impairment rating a day, the 6th Edition came abruptly as a required tool. It took about 20 ratings to get into the swing of things. The big problem is the simple story of supply and reimbursement that US doctors face: It takes about twice as long to do a rating with the 6th edition in the common chapters (15,16, 17: arm, leg, spine/pelvis).Like everything else that insurance pays for, us greedy doctor types are working more and getting paid less.The book, in my estimation, is fairer, with ratings consistently decreased by about 40%.

The text is fine, but as many positions know, sometimes it's a little difficult to do an impairment rating especially when you get into the neurological areas and non Orthopedic areas.

The Guides does a great job in quantifying the extent of injuries that result from an automobile accident or personal injury from a job.This book is a collection of "objective" data used to rate body functional impairment. Subjective complaints that are not clinically verifiable are generally not ratable under the Guides.The impairment ratings reflect the severity of the body system impairment and the resulting functional limitations of the whole person. A "must have" resource book for Workers Comp Case Managers; Paralegals and Insurance Claims adjusters.

This new version makes rating disability impairment much more difficult that the prior editions. For instance, in the past to rate for injuries to the spine you merely looked at one table. Now you have to look as several different tables to rate the contributing value of the History, Physical, Functional tests, Images and Pain to come up with a composite score. Jeffrey M. Kagan, MD

Concise and hard copy

The text is required for a course I will be taking for program development at my job. Amazon provided me the best cost for a new textbook that came factory sealed in plastic wrap. I was pleased with fast shipping. I will search amazon for future needs.

This is not the most recent version. There were changes made to shoulder rating methodology in January 2023 that is not included.

The newest version of the AMA guidelines. It is necessary in your practice if your state has gone from the 5th edition to the 6th, as it is drastically different than the 5th edition.

Like the Bible, what is printed is not open to ready, certain and easily understandable interpretation. This text is not for the faint of heart. Definitely written with the medical practitioner in mind.In point of fact I had to purchase another book which helps in interpreting the Bible. Hopefully this book is readily understandable and of assistance in understanding the source book.

An essential text for those wishing to perform IMEs.

Travail

Complex book about impairment calculations in medico-legal service. Need in-debt studying befor using it in practice. Very helpfull as it offers comparable outcomes.