Priest Chiropractic

An Impairment Rating is a medical assessment of a physical or anatomic deficit or loss of function, and delineation of a percentage value for each such deficit or loss, expressed in terms of the whole person. In simpler terms, an Impairment Rating assists third parties such as attorneys and insurance companies to understand the extent of a patient's injuries. The Impairment Rating helps to translate a medical injury or condition into terms (a numerical percentage) that non-medical personnel can understand--a common language of sorts. For example, an insurance company claims adjuster may not understand the clinical significance of an L4/L5 disc herniation with electrodiagnostically confirmed L5 radiculopathy, but he/she will more likely understand the corresponding 10-13% permanent impairment rating to the whole person, and this common understanding is beneficial to the patient and insurance company in effectuating an appropriate settlement.

Although there are a number of different publications that delineate impairment rating percentages, the publication that is considered to be the gold standard nationwide is the American Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment.