Maximum Medical Improvement – What Does it Mean to My Workers’ Compensation Case?
After your work accident and subsequent treatment, eventually your workers’ compensation doctor will discuss your Maximum Medical Improvement status with you. This is often called your “MMI” status. Your doctor usually has this discussion with you when your doctor determines you have achieved your maximum medical recovery from the work accident and believes you are “as good as you are going to get”. It means your doctor thinks you have reached a plateau in your healing process from your work accident. Your doctor will then give you permanent work restrictions, if appropriate. You will also be given an impairment rating, usually ranging anywhere from zero to twenty percent. This MMI information is often found on the two-page form you are usually given at the end of your visit with your doctor, on the second page of the DWC-25 form.
If you are still receiving bi-weekly checks from the insurance carrier involved in your claim because you have not been able to return to a job within your restrictions, these temporary bi-weekly checks will come to an end once you are place at overall Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI) by your workers’ compensation doctor. If you receive an impairment rating greater than zero percent (0%), you will receive money based on that rating. Your benefits then change to income impairment benefits, if you receive a permanent impairment rating greater than zero percent (0%). The amount depends on factors such as your average weekly wage at the time of your accident, the impairment rating you were given, your present work status and your present earnings. See Florida Statute Section 440.15 regarding calculating a Florida Impairment Rating or call us at Harris Guidi Rosner, P.A. for assistance.
We recommend that you do not stop seeing your workers’ compensation doctor just because your authorized doctor placed you at Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI). Being at MMI does not “close your case.” You will have to now make a $10.00 co-pay to keep seeing your workers’ compensation doctor. If you fail to regularly treat with your doctor, you can lose valuable rights to on-going care.
Maximum Medical Improvement is often a point in your case that you, or the insurance carrier, may want to explore the settlement value of your workers’ compensation claim. We can assist you with this process. We do not recommend that you negotiate with an insurance carrier without consulting with an experienced and assertive workers’ compensation attorney first.
Call us at Harris Guidi Rosner, P.A. if you want to learn more about the meaning and impact of your Maximum Medical Improvement status or discuss your claim further. You may reach us at (904) 777-7777 for a confidential, free consultation. If you wish to email us, instead, to coordinate your appointment or to discuss your potential case, please email us at mills@harrisguidi.com.
