#7 What should my patient share with the Independent Medical Exam doctor, also known as an IME doctor about pre-existing conditions?

QUESTION: What should my patient share with the Independent Medical Exam (IME) doctor, about their pre-existing conditions?​

ANSWER: It is critical to your patient’s credibility, protecting their PIP benefits, and their personal injury claim that they’re honest and complete when responding to the IME doctor’s questions. When it comes to answering questions about similar past accidents, treatment, and pre-existing questions, it’s important that they clearly and fully understand the IME doctor’s questions before they respond, so they provide accurate and complete answers.

What should my patient share with the Independent Medical Exam (IME) doctor, about their pre-existing conditions?

If your patient is required to attend an IME and they have pre-existing conditions, educating them about the purpose of an IME and what will happen at the IME appointment will help them to know how to navigate the IME and how to respond to the questions the IME doctor will ask so that they can have the best possible outcome.

It is critical to your patient’s credibility, protecting their PIP benefits, and their personal injury claim that they’re honest and complete when responding to the IME doctor’s questions. When it comes to answering questions about similar past accidents, treatment, and pre-existing questions, it’s important that they clearly and fully understand the IME doctor’s questions before they respond, so they provide accurate and complete answers.

If your patient has pre-existing conditions, to help them prepare for their IME you can refer them to the IME series of articles and videos on the Bridge City Law website that we developed specifically for people who have been injured in an accident, and who are required to attend an IME.

You can also advise them to talk with their family members and close friends to help them remember any past similar accidents they’ve had, pre-existing conditions, and treatment they’ve had previously in the areas of their body where their current injuries are. Your patient investing time before the IME to remember and note any accidents and treatment will help them to arrive at the IME prepared and confident in responding to the IME doctor’s questions.

When our clients don’t take the time to prepare they tend to respond to the IME doctor’s questions about pre-existing conditions by saying that they don’t have any similar past injuries, when in fact they did. They weren’t intentionally trying to withhold information — they genuinely didn’t remember.

The problem is that when this happens it creates doubt and suspicion with the IME doctor and calls into question your patient’s honesty, which impacts their credibility — and the IME doctor will include this in their report to the insurance company.

Another way you can help your patients be prepared for their IME if they do have pre-existing conditions and something we do with our clients is to ask the same questions in a few different ways and also dig into the details of their responses to your questions about past similar injuries and treatment.

It is it’s amazing how often we have encountered similar conservations with our clients like this one. We ask, “Have you ever had a neck injury or any problems with your neck?” Our client will respond, “No.” We then ask, “Have you ever seen a chiropractor?” They respond, “No.” We then come at the question a little differently and ask, “Have you ever had an on-the-job injury?” Then our client responds, “Oh yeah, I did.” We then ask, “What happened? What were your injuries?” And our client will respond by saying, “Oh, I hurt my neck.” We follow-up their response by asking, “Did you get any medical treatment for your injury?” And they will actually respond by saying, “Yes, I saw a chiropractor.”

This happens all the time. We ask them the same questions but in two different contexts and we get two entirely different responses.

What we’ve discovered over the years is that people store information differently and depending on the way the question is asked will or won’t trigger their memory.

Because we know this happens with people who want to provide honest and complete answers, we take the time to ask essentially the same questions but in a variety of ways to help our clients remember the information they’ll need during the IME to protect their claim and their credibility.

If you have additional questions about how to help your patients with pre-existing conditions prepare for an IME, we’re happy to talk with you. Whether your patient is our client or not, we want to make sure they get the information they need to be as prepared as possible for their IME so they’re able to protect themselves and their benefits.

We’re here to be a bridge of support for you and your patients.

We have developed a robust library of information for your patients who have been injured in an accident, which can be found in the INJURED? START HERE portal on our website.

There are 40 topic-focused articles, with accompanying videos, organized into the four categories that include the personal injury claim-related questions we’re asked most often, which include:

• Top 10 Personal Injury Claim Mistakes to Avoid
• What You Need to Know About Your Claim
• How Are My Medical Bills & Wage Loss Paid
• How to Prepare for Your Independent Medical Exam

Each article provides advice and guidelines to help your patients navigate each phase of the personal injury claims process. Whether we represent your patient or not, we are passionate about them knowing how to protect their rights, get the medical care they need, and avoid the mistakes that can harm their personal injury claim.

Each article provides advice and guidelines to help your patients navigate each phase of the personal injury claims process. Whether we represent your patient or not, we are passionate about them knowing how to protect their rights, get the medical care they need, and avoid the mistakes that can harm their personal injury claim.

Additionally, if it would be helpful to have the information we feature on our website available in your office to pass along to your patients, we’ve developed brochures for each of the four article series -- in both English and Spanish that we’re happy to send to your office. Please complete the form below and we’ll get them out to you promptly.