Software AMA Guides 6th edition Impairment rating

Disability Technology Inc

www.disabilitytec.com

John Hopkins,MD,PhD

Disability Technology is a maker of AMA Guides 6th edition software

tel:214-755-5726

hopkinsjh@sbcglobal.net

 

According to AMA:

 

The Purposes of the AMA Guides

 

 

 

The Preface to the initial edition of the AMA Guides (1971) established a

 

clear distinction between permanent impairment – “a purely medical condition”  and permanent disability – “when [a patient’s] actual or presumed ability to engage in gainful activity is reduced or absent because of ‘impairment’ which, in turn, may or may not be combined with other factors.”

 

This distinction -- between impairment and work disability -- and the stated purpose of the publication -- to provide a system for rating impairments  have been maintained through all six editions of the AMA Guides.

 

 

 

There is, however, another purpose of the AMA Guides, namely to provide a rating that is a crucial determinant of the cash benefits provided in workers’ compensation programs.4 This is clearly articulated in the Sixth Edition of the AMA Guides (2008, p. 20):

 

There is increased use of the Guides to translate objective clinical

 

findings into a percentage of the whole person. Typically, this

 

number is used to measure the residual deficit, a loss – a number

 

that is then converted into a monetary award to the injured

 

party. This scheme is most commonly used in various workers’

 

compensation systems in the United States and abroad.