This guide offers discussions of all aspects of the assessment and evaluation of impairment and disability. Included are the physician exam, reporting requirements, common assessment tools, legal issues, workers' compensation, Social Security, and Veteran Affairs compensation and pensioning. The book features detailed information on the rating, reporting, requirements, and forms for both the United States and Canada.

Syllabus for a four weekend course on permanent impairment rating and disability evaluation, based on the American Medical Association's "Guide to the evaluation of permanent impairment", 1993 edition.

This complement to the new, 5th Edition of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairments provides the step-by-step guidance needed to judge the degree to which impairments affect performance for specific jobs and whether disability is present. You'll also understand how to use tests such as functional capacity evaluations and work hardening to assess and manage disabilities. A standard format for each body region covers sources of disability (pathological conditions and common occupationally related injuries), history, methods of physical examination, radiographic testing and interpretation, disability ratings, and work rating information.

This booklet is a review and guide to the use of the 1993 edition of the AMA's "Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment."

The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) provides disability benefits through the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. To receive SSDI or SSI disability benefits, an individual must meet the statutory definition of disability, which is "the inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity [SGA] by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months." SSA uses a five-step sequential process to determine whether an adult applicant meets this definition. Functional Assessment for Adults with Disabilities examines ways to collect information about an individual's physical and mental (cognitive and noncognitive) functional abilities relevant to work requirements. This report discusses the types of information that support findings of limitations in functional abilities relevant to work requirements, and provides findings and conclusions regarding the collection of information and assessment of functional abilities relevant to work requirements.

The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) administers two disability programs: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), for disabled individuals, and their dependent family members, who have worked and contributed to the Social Security trust funds, and Supplemental Security Income (SSSI), which is a means-tested program based on income and financial assets for adults aged 65 years or older and disabled adults and children. Both programs require that claimants have a disability and meet specific medical criteria in order to qualify for benefits. SSA establishes the presence of a medically-determined impairment in individuals with mental disorders other than intellectual disability through the use of standard diagnostic criteria, which include symptoms and signs. These impairments are established largely on reports of signs and symptoms of impairment and functional limitation. Psychological Testing in the Service of Disability Determination considers the use of psychological tests in evaluating disability claims submitted to the SSA. This report critically reviews selected psychological tests, including symptom validity tests, that could contribute to SSA disability determinations. The report discusses the possible uses of such tests and their contribution to disability determinations. Psychological Testing in the Service of Disability Determination discusses testing norms, qualifications for administration of tests, administration of tests, and reporting results. The recommendations of this report will help SSA improve the consistency and accuracy of disability determination in certain cases.

California's disability rating system has been criticized as being inconsistent and prone to promote disputes over the appropriate level of permanent disability benefits. This monograph follows an earlier interim briefing on California's permanent disability rating schedule. The authors provide a systematic evaluation of the ratings system that was used prior to the state's 2004 workers' compensation reform efforts. Among other analyses, they examine the extent to which workers with higher disability ratings experience higher earnings losses.

The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) provides disability compensation to veterans with a service-connected injury, and to receive disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), a veteran must submit a claim or have a claim submitted on his or her behalf. Evaluation of the Disability Determination Process for Traumatic Brain Injury in Veterans reviews the process by which the VA assesses impairments resulting from traumatic brain injury for purposes of awarding disability compensation. This report also provides recommendations for legislative or administrative action for improving the adjudication of veterans' claims seeking entitlement to compensation for all impairments arising from a traumatic brain injury.

The AMA established a guide for the rating of physical impairment of the various organ systems which provides clinically sound and reproducible criteria for rating permanent impairment. Contents include- impairment evaluation; records and reports; the musculoskeletal system; the nervous system; the respiratory system; the cardiovascular system; the hematopoietic system; the visual system; ear, nose, throat, and related structures; the digestive system; the urinary and reproductive systems; the endocrine system; the skin; mental and behavioral disorders; pain.

Guest edited by Drs. Marjorie Eskay-Auerbach and Robert Rondinelli, this issue of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics will discuss Medical Impairment and Disability Evaluation and Associated Medicolegal Issues. This issue is one of four selected each year by our series Consulting Editor, Dr. Santos Martinez of the Campbell Clinic. Topics in this issue include, but are not limited to: The Physician’s Approach to Impairment Rating and Disability Benefits Determinations; Claimant-related Issues; Evaluating Return-to-work ability using Functional Capacity Evaluation; Evaluating Human Functioning Using CAT Methodology for Disability Determination within the SSA; Burden of treatment compliance; Measuring Quality of Life Loss in Litigation; Medical-Legal Causation Analysis; Actuarial Analysis and Life Expectancy Determination after Catastrophic Illness or Injury; Validity Assessment in Acquired Brain Injury Disability Evaluation; Medicolegal Expert Core Competencies & Professionalism; The Physician as Expert Witness; Rehabilitating the Injured Worker to Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI); The Independent Medical Examination (IME); and Life Care Planning, among other topics.