PSA: My QME doctor change between 2019 and 2024 was night and day

I had my first QME back in 2019 for a shoulder injury from work. That doctor spent maybe 10 minutes with me, barely looked at my MRI, and wrote me off as having zero disability. Fast forward to my 2024 QME for a back injury and the guy actually read through all my records, spent 45 minutes doing physical tests, and gave me a full 15% impairment rating. I think the difference is the new rules from 2020 that forced more transparency. Has anyone else seen this kind of shift in how QMEs handle their exams?

3 comments

3 Comments

loganl2213d agoMost Upvoted

The 2020 rules really did shake things up. I had a buddy go through a QME in 2018 for his knee and they basically glanced at him, wrote a one page report, and sent him on his way. Then he had to do another one last year for a different issue and it was completely different, the doctor actually showed him the measurements and explained why he got a certain percentage. It seems like the whole system got a kick in the pants to stop just rubber stamping denials and actually do their jobs. That 45 minutes you got sounds like the way it should have been all along, not some rushed assembly line nonsense.

christopher_sullivan13d agoMost Upvoted

Is 45 minutes supposed to feel like a spa treatment now? I guess when the bar’s set at “read your file and grunt once,” anything longer feels like a TED talk. At least your buddy got a show and tell instead of the old “yep it’s broke, here’s your report” routine.

patriciap526d ago

Oh my, a friend of mine had the exact same thing happen with his knee.