Is Maximum Medical Improvement about Actual Recovery or Expected Recovery

It has become a common practice for workers compensation injuries doctors in Utah workers compensation cases to certify that maximum medical improvement occurred sometime in the past, maybe even the distant past, because the injured worker’s condition did not change after that particular point in time.

When making this decision, the workers compensation injuries doctor concludes that a course of treatment, recent injections, a pain management program, or even surgery did not change the injured workers conditions, so the maximum medical improvement date is back-dated for their workers compensation cases.

Sometimes the workers compensation injuries doctor says that the surgery was not needed or did not do any good.  Other times the workers compensation injuries doctor might say something about how maximum medical improvement does not mean that more treatment will not be needed for the injured workers case.

In most injured workers cases when this occurs, the worker’s injury doctor uses the wrong standard to reach his conclusion.  It does not take much to change the meaning of things in workers compensation law.

You understand that the difference between “the lumbar spine is compensable” and “the lumbar spine is not compensable” is significant.  But only one word changed.

According to Utah workers compensation law, maximum medical improvement is the earliest date upon which further material recovery from or lasting improvement to a workers injury can no longer reasonably be expected.

The mistake these worker’s injury doctors make when they back-date maximum medical improvement MMI or refuse to amend a maximum medical improvement MMI certification after surgery or a course of treatment is one of perspective.  They look at actual outcomes instead of expected outcomes as a misdirected attempt to comply with workers compensation law.  They use a definition of maximum medical improvement MMI as the earliest date after which there was no further material recovery from or lasting improvement to an injury, not what could be expected if care is continued in their workers compensation cases.