How are maximum medical improvement (MMI) and permanent impairment determined in a workers compensation case in Colorado?
An injured worker’s authorized treating physician (ATP) makes a determination that the worker’s condition has become stable, i.e., that the worker has reached maximum medical improvement (MMI). When that determination has been made, the doctor then determines if the worker has sustained permanent impairment, and, if so, how much. This is expressed in terms of a percentage rating. There is a book entitled The AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (Third Edition – Revised) which must be followed by all physicians when rating injured workers for permanent impairment. The short title of this book is the AMA Guides. Even though the AMA Guides are now in the sixth edition, the worker’s compensation statute in Colorado requires that the Third Edition – Revised be used in determining the rating. The AMA Guides essentially look at the human body as an industrial machine or robot and, in a very mechanical way, provide guidelines for determining the degree of permanent injury of th
