A concise digest of the 4th, 5th and 6th Editions of the AMA Guides! Understanding the AMA Guides in Workers' Compensation by Steven Babitsky, Esq., James J. Mangraviti, Jr. List Price: $375.00   Eligible for Free Standard Shipping on U.S. Prepaid Orders Imprint: Aspen Publishers ISBN: 9780735509399 Looseleaf: 186 pages Publication Cycle: Supplemented annually Last Updated: 6/14/2012 Automatic Supplementation More Info. Available: Item ships in 3-5 Business Days

The American Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (or AMA Guides) is mandated for use in many workers' compensation systems. The AMA Guides are now in their sixth edition, and various states are using either the third, fourth, fifth, or sixth edition of the Guides. In easy-to-follow language, Understanding the AMA Guides in Workers' Compensation brings you up to speed with a review of essential concepts... complete coverage of the 4th, 5th, and 6th Edition of the AMA Guides ...and a focus on the key changes. Understanding the AMA Guides in Workers' Compensation delivers the concise, jargon-free information you need to prepare any case with confidence - and the courtroom-tested tactics to help you win it. Whether you're new to workers' compensation cases or a long-time practitioner, this expertise-filled resource will be an invaluable time and work-saving tool in every case involving the AMA Guides. This resource is an arsenal of ready-to-use tools, techniques, and tips to help you build a better case from start to finish, including: Expert insight on how physicians should reach impairment ratings - and how to spot mistakes that may compromise up to 80% of all ratings, according to one study Case-tested guidelines for using the AMA Guides to prepare client and physician testimony Sample proofs that illustrate how permanent impairment can be established for various injuries A cross-examination guide that shows how to pick apart an opposing physician's credibility, including word-for-word cross-examinations from real cases Dozens of questions to confound opposing witnesses - including case-clinchers like "The Ten Most Difficult Cross-Examination Questions" Convenient digests of federal and state statutes and case law decisions that put a wealth of legal background at your fingertips Understanding the AMA Guides in Workers' Compensation has been updated to include coverage of: Which conditions are not adequately covered in each edition of the AMA Guides The level of compliance with the AMA Guides legally required of a rating physician When rating physicians may deviate from the Guides and how to justify or challenge such deviations Which edition of the AMA Guides is legally required to be used Whether the AMA Guides are admissible into evidence How to challenge the adoption of the AMA Guides What the courts find or do not find persuasive when ratings made under the AMA Guides are challenged How the AMA Guides relate to scheduled awards How to preserve the strongest record for appeal When exactly a claimant is or is not at maximum medical improvement—for example, a claimant with a condition such as reflex sympathetic dystrophy, which may wax and wane over time Can a claimant be evaluated for impairment even though he is not at maximum medical improvement Who is qualified to rate impairment And more! View the Highlights for this title. 1. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES Origins of Scheduled Awards Development of the AMA Guides The Crucial Distinction Between Impairment and Disability Using the AMA Guides for Direct Financial Awards to Claimants Adopting the AMA Guides Failure to Follow the AMA Guides The Importance of Using the Correct Edition The AAOS Manual Comparing the AMA Guides to Scheduled Awards The Whole-Person Concept, Rounding Off, and the Combined Values Chart Injuries Not Covered by the AMA Guides The AMA Guides and Appeals 2. USE OF THE AMA GUIDES FOR MEDICAL EVALUATIONS When to Evaluate Permanent Impairment The Process of Evaluating Impairment The Evaluator's Qualifications 3. CHALLENGES TO THE ADOPTION AND USE OF THE AMA GUIDES Are the AMA Guides Valid and Reliable? Are the AMA Guides Comprehensive? Constitutional and Other Legal Challenges 4. AMA GUIDES, FOURTH EDITION Key Points in the AMA Guides The 15 Most Important Changes in the AMA Guides 5. AMA GUIDES, FIFTH EDITION Chapter 1: Philosophy, Purpose, and Appropriate Use of the AMA Guides Chapter 2: Practical Application of the AMA Guides Chapters 3–14: Other Systems Chapter 15: Spine Chapter 16: The Upper Extremities Chapter 17: The Lower Extremities Chapter 18: Pain Exhibit 5-1 Difficult Cross-Examination Questions Under the Fifth Edition of the AMA Guides 6. AMA GUIDES, SIXTH EDITION Key Points for Counsel Preface to the Sixth Edition Methodology of the Sixth Edition Chapter 1: Conceptual Foundations and Philosophy Chapter 2: Practical Application of the Guides Chapter 3: Pain-Related Impairment Chapter 4: The Cardiovascular System Chapter 5: The Pulmonary System Chapter 6: The Digestive System Chapter 7: The Urinary and Reproductive Systems Chapter 8: The Skin Chapter 9: The Hematopoietic System Chapter 10: The Endocrine System Chapter 11: Ear, Nose, and Throat and Related Structures Chapter 12: The Visual System Chapter 13: The Central and Peripheral Nervous System Chapter 14: Mental and Behavioral Disorders Chapter 15: The Upper Extremities Chapter 16: The Lower Extremities Chapter 17: The Spine and Pelvis Exhibit 6-1 Difficult Cross-Examination Questions Under the Sixth Edition of the AMA Guides 7. DIRECT EXAMINATION: USING THE AMA GUIDES TO PROVE PERMANENT IMPAIRMENT Knowing What Must Be Proven Laying the Foundation with the Claimant's Testimony Exhibit 7-1 Sample Trial Sheet Preparing the Rating Physician to Testify 8. FOURTH EDITION CROSS-EXAMINATION GUIDE Were the AMA Guides Used? Which Edition Was Used? Examples of Specific Changes Between Editions Training and the AMA Guides The General Principles Behind the AMA Guides When to Rate Permanent Impairment The Physician's Report The Whole-Person Rating Concept Pain Mental and Psychiatric Impairments Focusing on All of the Impairments 9. SAMPLE CROSS-EXAMINATIONS UNDER THE FIFTH EDITION Misreferences to the AMA Guides Use of the AMA Guides to Assess Permanent Partial Disability Examiners' Roles and Responsibilities Examiners' Ethical Obligations Upper Extremity Impairment Evaluation Protocol Different Ratings Under Different Editions Failure to Rate Pain Combination versus Addition Spinal Impairment Radiculopathy Ratings Whiplash Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy) Tendinitis Muscle Atrophy 10. SAMPLE CROSS-EXAMINATIONS UNDER THE SIXTH EDITION Reading and Understanding Chapters 1 and 2 and the Glossary as Required Challenging the Validity of the AMA Guides Past and Present Cultural Differences Required Components of Impairment Evaluation Reports Accuracy of Diagnosis Prejudice Against the Treating Physician Rating Unlisted Diagnoses by Analogy Using a Functional Assessment, Allowed by the AMA Guides, That Does Not Have Instructions on How to Score or Convert Score to Grade Modifier Failure to Review Actual Clinical Studies Spying on Examinee Following Chapter-Specific Instructions Apportionment Understanding the Definition of Maximum Medical Improvement 11. SAMPLE PROOFS Lower Back Injury Herniated L4–L5 Disk Injury Bilateral Upper Extremity Injury Ulnar Nerve Injury Back Injury DRE versus ROM Model in Spine Impairment Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and de Quervain's Tendinitis Mental Impairment Under the Fourth Edition Rating CRPS-1 Under the Fifth Edition and Deviating from the Guides' Requirement to Do So Lumbosacral Spine Impairment Under the DRE Method of the Fourth Edition 12. JUDICIAL INTERPRETATION OF THE AMA GUIDES Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Minnesota Mississippi Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Mexico North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Federal Cases Appendix A. 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