Clarity on Impairment, for Everyone Whose Work Depends on It
For years the trusted home for the professionals who measure and rate impairment — now the authoritative source for everyone who manages, insures, and resolves it. Guidance, tools, and credentialed expertise, in one place.
- 11 Fifth Edition
- 15 Sixth Edition
- 12 State-specific schedule
- 5 Fourth Edition
- 6 No statutory edition
- 1 Third Edition, Revised
- 1 Hybrid
Impairment touches nearly every part of the working world. It shapes how an injury is measured and compensated, how a workforce is kept safe and fit for duty, how claims are evaluated, and how the standards behind those judgments are written and applied. For years, Impairment.com has served the medical professionals who assess and rate it. Today, the same commitment to rigor extends to everyone whose work depends on understanding impairment clearly — those who manage and insure the workforce, those who weigh the legal questions, and those who set the standards the rest rely on.
Our purpose is to be the place this community turns to first: a single, authoritative source for the guidance, tools, and credentialed expertise that bring clarity to a subject too often left ambiguous. Whether you are rating an impairment, building a policy around it, or resolving a dispute over it, you will find the resources here to do it with confidence.
Start here
Where do you fit?
The same impairment rating means something different depending on where you sit. Start with the path that matches your work.
Physicians & evaluators
Rate accurately, defend confidently, and earn the credential that proves it.
Employers & HR
Build defensible impairment policy and set realistic return-to-work expectations.
Claims & risk professionals
Know which edition governs, what a rating actually means, and when to question one.
Attorneys & adjudicators
Understand the methodology behind the number before you argue about it.
Open access
Authoritative resources, free to use
No login. No paywall. Built and maintained by people who do this work.
The Guides Guide
A state-by-state reference covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Select any jurisdiction to see the governing AMA Guides® edition or state equivalent, the controlling statute, and the PPD formula — on an interactive map color-coded by methodology.
Browse jurisdictionsFind a Certified Impairment Rater
A searchable directory of qualified physicians and raters performing impairment evaluations under the AMA Guides®, organized by state and country. Certified raters can apply for a listing.
Search the directoryDefensibility Checklist
An interactive review of the elements that make an impairment rating hold up under scrutiny — and the omissions that most often bring one down.
Run the checklistMedicolegal Glossary
Plain-English definitions of the impairment, workers’ compensation, and AMA Guides® terminology used across the field — from apportionment and grade modifier to whole person impairment.
Look up a termImpairment vs. Disability
The single most consequential distinction in medicolegal practice, and the one most often blurred. What each term means, and why conflating them causes trouble.
Read the explainerThe Impairment Report
Commentary and analysis on impairment evaluation, the AMA Guides®, and the medicolegal issues surrounding both.
Read the blogHR toolkit
Tools for the employers who manage the aftermath
Impairment doesn’t stop at the rating. Two interactive tools built for the people who have to act on it.
Impairment Policy Builder
Work through the decisions that belong in a written impairment and return-to-work policy, and generate a draft framework you can bring to counsel.
Build a policyReturn to Work Timeline Predictor
Set expectations grounded in evidence rather than optimism, and identify where a recovery is drifting off course.
Estimate a timelineRater toolkits
The calculators, inventories, and rating guidance you use on every case
Two subscription toolkits — one for each edition — give you 24/7 access to scored functional inventories, combined values, conversions, and condition-specific rating guidance. Built for everyone who performs or reviews impairment evaluations: physicians, attorneys, claims professionals, and fact finders.
Fifth Edition Rater Toolkit
State-of-the-art tools and resources for effective use of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, Fifth Edition.
- Functional inventories with online scoring and reporting — Pain Disability Questionnaire (PDQ), QuickDASH, and Lower Limb Outcome
- Pain Questionnaire
- Combined values calculator
- Unit and regional conversions
- Rating Guidance Tool — applicable sections, criteria, and process suggestions for over 50 of the most commonly rated conditions
- Curated reference links to outside resources worth keeping
Sixth Edition Rater Toolkit
State-of-the-art tools and resources for effective use of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, Sixth Edition.
- Functional inventories with online scoring and reporting — Pain Disability Questionnaire (PDQ), QuickDASH, and Lower Limb Outcome
- Pain Questionnaire
- Combined values calculator
- Unit and regional conversions
- Rating Guidance Tool — applicable sections, criteria, and process suggestions for over 50 of the most commonly rated conditions
- Curated reference links to outside resources worth keeping
Evaluation tools
Forms, templates, and reference
Expert-built documents that put a professional face on your reports and take the assembly work out of them.
Free self-assessment
How sharp are your AMA Guides® rating skills?
Take a free 10-item mini-assessment to gauge where you stand. In a few minutes you’ll know whether you’re ready for the CIR® certification exam, where your gaps are, and which training would close them.
Certified Impairment Rater for the 5th Edition AMA Guides® - Mini-Assessment
AMA Guides 5th mini-assessment.
Have a discount code?
Certified Impairment Rater for the 6th Edition AMA Guides® - Mini-Assessment
AMA Guides 6th mini-assessment.
To learn more about the full Certified Impairment Rater program and become a Certified Impairment Evaluation Specialist, visit CertifiedRater.com.
Training
AMA Guides®, Mastery — the best way to learn
Over two hundred modules and more than one hundred seventy hours of content for each of the Fifth and Sixth Edition training courses. Enroll in a full course or select the modules your practice needs — musculoskeletal, medical, mental, and behavioral disorders. Yearly enrollment costs less than the average fee most physicians receive for a single evaluation.
For provider offices
WC Docwise: Treat the patient. Master the paperwork.
A 75-minute AI-narrated foundational training program built for medical provider offices that treat injured workers. Four progressive modules — Introduction to Workers’ Compensation, WC Glossary, Typical Process Flow, and Managing Treatment — give physicians, clinicians, WC coordinators, and practice staff the working knowledge to document claims accurately, communicate with adjusters and case managers, minimize denials, and support faster return to work. Optional 30-minute state-specific add-ons cover local regulatory requirements, with more than 30 states available now.
Developed by WorkCompCollege.com in partnership with Workplace Health Magazine. $295 per person, with volume discounts available.
Excellence in Impairment and Disability Evaluation and Management
Christopher R. Brigham, MD
Founder, Impairment.com
Are you a certified impairment rater?
Apply to be listed in the Find a Certified Rater directory and be found by the employers, carriers, and attorneys who need qualified evaluators. Submissions are reviewed before publication.
AMA Guides® required
This site is independent of the American Medical Association® (AMA).
The training program and resources provided are neither endorsed nor sponsored by the AMA®, and the opinions and content of the training presentations and learning content represent the views of the presenters and are not necessarily the views of the AMA®, particularly on matters of medical policy.
All participants in AMA Guides® training must have access to the AMA Guides®, either in a digital or printed edition. Visit AMA Guides Digital.