Abstract
This article presents a history of the origins and development of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides), from the publication of an article titled “A Guide to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment of the Extremities and Back” (1958) until a compendium of thirteen guides was published in book form in 1971. The most recent, sixth edition, appeared in 2008. Over time, the AMA Guides has been widely used by US states for workers’ compensation and also by the Federal Employees Compensation Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, as well as by Canadian provinces and other jurisdictions around the world. In the United States, almost twenty states have developed some form of their own impairment rating system, but some have a narrow range and scope and advise evaluators to consult the AMA Guides for a final determination of permanent disability. An evaluator's impairment evaluation report should clearly document the rater's review of prior medical and treatment records, clinical evaluation, analysis of the findings, and a discussion of how the final impairment rating was calculated. The resulting report is the rating physician's expert testimony to help adjudicate the claim. A table shows the edition of the AMA Guides used in each state and the enabling statute/code, with comments.
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American Medical Association, Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. Chicago, Ill.: American Medical Association, 1971.
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American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision. American Psychiatric Association, 2000.
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American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. American Psychiatric Association, 2013.
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Brown v. Campbell Bd. of Educ., 915 S.W.2d 407 (Tenn. 1995).
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Cocchiarella L, Andersson GBJ. Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. 6th ed. Chicago, Ill.: American Medical Association, 2000.
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Davis v. B.F. Goodrich, 826 P. 2d 587 (Okla. 1992).
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McCabe v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau, 1997, ND 145, 567 N.W.2d 201
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McFarren TD. AMA Guides, Sixth Edition Arrives on the Scene, reprinted on the LexisNexis Legal Newsroom Workers' Compensation at http://www.lexisnexis.com/wc.
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Rondinelli RD, Genovese E, Katz RT, Mayer TG, Mueller K, Ranavay M, Brigham CR., eds. Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. 6th ed. Chicago, Ill.: American Medical Association, 2008.
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Seabury, Seth A. PhD, Frank Neuhauser, MPP, and Teryl Nuckols, MD, MSHS, “American Medical Association Impairment Ratings and Earnings Losses Due to Disability,” Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Vol. 55 No. 3, pp. 286–291 (March 2013).
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Spieler EA, Barth PS, Burton JF Jr., Himmelstein J, Rudolph L, Recommendations to Guide Revision of the Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, JAMA 2000;283 (4) 519–523.
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Texas Workers' Compensation Comm'n. v. Garcia, 893 S.W.2d 504 (Tex. 1995).
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World Health Organization. International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: ICF. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 2001.
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