Jun 1, 2017

What Is “Maximum Medical Improvement?”

Workplace injuries come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and severities.
For some, an injury is minor, requiring just a few days of rest before
an employee can return to work in their full capacity. Others aren’t
so fortunate, and instead have to live with the consequences of their
accident for the rest of their lives, leaving them permanently disabled
in some form. But how do you know you’ve become permanently disabled?

The answer lies in a term you’ll hear rather frequently throughout
your case: “maximum medical improvement,” or MMI. To put it
as simple as possible, MMI is the point in your injury claim timeline
where your doctor says your condition can’t be expected to improve
with any additional reasonable treatment. In other words, you’ve
healed as much as possible and the injured body part is about as good
as it’s going to get. This should only be declared after all reasonable
treatment options have been exhausted and your condition fails to improve.

MMI & Your Workers’ Comp Case

Your workers’ compensation claim will change significantly once your
doctor declares you have reached maximum medical improvement. Up until
this point, you have been regularly seeing a doctor about your condition,
and you have probably also been receiving replacement income to maintain
your livelihood. However, these benefits are only paid while you are continuing
to recover. Once you reach maximum medical improvement, your condition
will be treated differently.

If you cannot further recover with reasonable treatment, your doctor will
declare you have reached MMI and assign you a disability rating. This
disability rating will influence whether or not you can return to your
position, and if so, what restrictions must be in place. Depending on
the restrictions and your previous job duties, you may need to move to
a different position or seek different employment which will allow you
to work within the bounds of your restrictions. If you are declared to
be partially disabled, you can still receive benefits, though the amount
will be reduced by the percentage of disability you are given. For example,
say you injure your wrist and are declared 40 percent disabled. How much
you will receive is determined by the appropriate schedule for wrist injuries,
reduced by the 60 percent amount of which you are
not disabled.

Your physician may also declare you to be totally disabled, which means
they believe that you won’t be able to return to any sort of “substantially
gainful” employment without pain or heavy restriction. Total disability
is handled much differently from partial disability because you aren’t
expected to be able to work again in the future. You can expect to receive
benefits based on the type of your injury and its severity for a designated
period of time.

I Don’t Like My Diagnosis

If your doctor declares that you have reached MMI, you don’t have
to live with the decision, even if you have seen them throughout the process
thus far. You are entitled to a second opinion with a doctor of your choosing,
and if they believe other treatment will help you, you may be able to
obtain this treatment to attempt to further improve.

Your condition may not necessarily get better after reaching MMI, but it
could also relapse and get worse. If your condition worsens within two
years after reaching this condition, you should go back to your doctor,
and they can examine you to determine if your condition needs further
treatment.

You should also not hesitate to speak with a skilled Atlanta workers’
compensation lawyer about your injury as soon as possible. It’s
not uncommon for employers and insurance companies to try to discredit
or misrepresent your injury in an effort to avoid their responsibility to pay.
Hansford McDaniel – Workers’ Compensation Attorneys has dealt with these issues before, and can provide you with quality,
compassionate counsel that’s dedicated to effectively preserving
your best interests. With over 20 years of collective experience, we have
helped numerous clients reach their goals after being injured on the job,
and our ability and client service has earned us numerous recognitions,
including a 10.0 Superb rating from Avvo.

Call The Law Office of Hansford McDaniel – Workers’ Compensation Attorneys today by dialing 770-922-3660 to discuss your case further and learn
more about your options when you have been injured on the job.