About Us

One of the greatest opportunities for workers’ compensation claims is effective management of impairment ratings. But what is the best way to do that? With offices in California, Maine, Massachusetts and Hawaii, Impairment Resources, LLC provides you with unique, proven strategies that drive accurate impairment ratings. Before the development of the suite of services offered by Impairment Resources, LLC, adjusters, physicians and attorneys had limited tools available to cost effectively analyze and resolve such inaccuracies. Strategies that work are available to assist stakeholders in obtaining an accurate rating at MMI initially, or to reduce or fix errors in ratings that are received. Our integrated suite of best practice strategies, services and tools assures accurate ratings.

Erroneous impairment ratings result in needless claims expense, extra adjuster work, increased use of attorneys and delays in claims closure. Monetary payouts for impairment are key cost drivers in workers’ compensation cases. For example, in California, statistics show that more than 80% of California impairment ratings are erroneous, that it is ten times more likely for a rating to be too high than too low, and that the average incorrect rating is nearly three times higher than is appropriate. Ideally an expert report should be able to validate the physician’s rating; however our experience reveals most ratings are substantially higher than is appropriate.

Our studies have determined that the dollar difference between the original rating and the corrected rating per each California workers' compensation claim is a savings of several thousands of dollars per case.

When an impairment rating is received by an adjuster, the first step should be to determine the likelihood that the impairment rating is accurate. This process is easily accomplished by an adjuster sending the actual report to be reviewed by one of our experts; also known as an ImpairmentScreen™. If there is a significant difference, an expert rater or physician ImpairmentExpert™ review is appropriate. Impairment Screens and Impairment Expert Reviews are used to determine case management strategy, provide feedback to the examining physician with requested modifications for a proper rating, and for settlement negotiations or preparation for cross examination. We can also assist claims staff and attorneys through telephonic consultation, drafting of letters to the evaluating physicians - also known as an ImpairmentLetter™ - and by providing expert testimony.

Proactive management will prevent many errors. When it is probable an injured worker is at maximal medical improvement, ImpairmentLetter™ is recommended to provide guidance to physicians to increase the probability that their ratings will be correct. We also recommend an Impairment Assessment or medical record review to determine the correct impairment rating for each ratable diagnosis before a rating has been established. The report includes an assessment of all complex clinical issues including apportionment and causation if desired. The narrative report may be signed by multiple physicians when multiple specialties are involved.
 
It is more important than ever to make the correct decisions and control needless costs. Impairment Resources, LLC is unique in providing resources essential to managing impairment ratings.