IME/Disability exams /Designated Doctor exams

[painfre]

One of colleague at VA, who is an internist is doing IME/Disability exams in Texas. All he has do is take an exam conducted by workers comp. Texas and has to be designated Doctor to do these evaluations and carry minimum liability/no risk. He works as independent contractor for a company and apparently gets paid well and can do about 2-3 in an hour. It can be done ANY specialty and not just PMR/occupational medicine as I thought. Any one doing this or did in the past? Thanks

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[Lostin_space]

One of colleague at VA, who is an internist is doing IME/Disability exams in Texas. All he has do is take an exam conducted by workers comp. Texas and has to be designated Doctor to do these evaluations and carry minimum liability/no risk. He works as independent contractor for a company and apparently gets paid well and can do about 2-3 in an hour. It can be done ANY specialty and not just PMR/occupational medicine as I thought. Any one doing this or did in the past? Thanks

I plan on doing this, through a company, not necessarily independently. You get paid anywhere from 60+ to 100$ per exam. Typically the company you work under covers your insurance. No diagnosis, no actual long term relationship with the patient.

 

[painfre]

Thanks for information. Do you have to take any special training like SEEK, ABIME. In Texas, I was told that one need to be Texas Designated Doctor to do those evals and there is an exam to become a Texas designated Doctor with recertification every 2 years.

 

[Lostin_space]

Thanks for information. Do you have to take any special training like SEEK, ABIME. In Texas, I was told that one need to be Texas Designated Doctor to do those evals and there is an exam to become a Texas designated Doctor with recertification every 2 years.

I have not heard that but I can't confirm or deny that honestly as I'm not certain. I was told you just need a license in the state you want to do them no board cert or anything as there is no real relationship w the patient and you are not diagnosing or prescribing anything. I would suggest contacting one of the locums reps they should be able to give you all the info

 

[Gauss]

IME is typically through the state/city workcomp system so you have to be registered and approved through them. Disability evals depends on who you are doing them for, usually its social security which contracts with a few companies.

You should always have malpractice coverage for this, whether its your own or with the company. You should always carry an umbrella policy as well. You can still receive state medical board complaints and lawsuits, it's not entirely benign.

 

[Lostin_space]

That's interesting. Could you elaborate on what kinds of complaints/lawsuits could be brought against you?

IME is typically through the state/city workcomp system so you have to be registered and approved through them. Disability evals depends on who you are doing them for, usually its social security which contracts with a few companies.

You should always have malpractice coverage for this, whether its your own or with the company. You should always carry an umbrella policy as well. You can still receive state medical board complaints and lawsuits, it's not entirely benign.

 

[Gauss]

That's interesting. Could you elaborate on what kinds of complaints/lawsuits could be brought against you?

whatever they want, it could be completely bogus and most are dismissed after investigation. All your documentation is available to claimants and they will complain about anything in it that they may not agree with.