The defendant’s insurance company has the right to ask that someone who has filed a personal injury claim (plaintiff) must undergo an independent medical exam (IME). Insurers like to use the word Independent, in order to obscure the fact that the insurance company has scheduled that particular examination. Moreover, the insurer does not hesitate to give instructions to the examining physician.
In view of those facts, any resident of Alberta that has been asked to undergo such an examination should devote some time to preparing for that scheduled event. In other words, that same person needs to stand prepared to carry out certain actions.
Actions to be taken by someone going to an IME:
• Bring a friend of family member with you; encourage that same person to take notes as the exam proceeds.
• Make a mental note of what questions you get asked by the examining doctor. Use your memory to create your own set of notes, regarding what took place during that IME.
• Take with you any of the medical records you have on hand, or any notes that you have jotted down, while going to planned appointments with a treating physician.
• During the exam, demonstrate the level of politeness that you would show your own doctor.
Actions to be avoided, when someone must go to an IME:
Arriving late: Instead, plan ahead, so that you can arrive on time. If you lack information on the exact location, ask for a better set of instructions.
Exaggerating pain or symptoms: Give an honest answer to each question. If you do not know the answer, do not hesitate to say “I don’t know.”
Volunteering information: Only share those facts that must be shared in order to answer a specific question. Any background information about your medical condition can be shared with the insurance company or the Human Resources Department later. You can have a lawyer or the person that witnessed the examination call and reference the absence of a question that would have invited mention of the background material.
Engaging in small talk with the doctor or with any members of the staff.
Discussing financial or legal issues; you and the examining doctor should not be focused on those things as the IME proceeds. Go along with the pretense that the physician’s observations have been taken independently.
Do not worry about what the doctor might tell the insurer. If you have to return to work, and then encounter problems, you will have grounds for suing the insurer. Just be sure that you have hired a personal injury lawyer in St. Albert, or Spruce Grove before you need to take that last, drastic step. Lawyers understand how to proceed when an insurance company has been charged with bad faith.