What is “maximum medical improvement”

While you might receive aggressive medical care immediately after your work accident, over time the frequency of those appointments will be spread out over longer periods of time. Eventually your physician will be able to state that you have reached maximum medical improvement. When your physician provides this opinion to the workers compensation insurance company, it means that your doctor does not feel that you would benefit from more treatment. It could mean that you have recovered 100% from your injury, or it could mean that you have recovered up to point and it is unlikely that you will be getting any better.

As result of reaching maximum medical improvement, your physician should now be in a position to evaluate your permanent injury and provide a permanent partial disability rating. This rating allows the claimant (the injured worker) to receive his permanent partial disability award. In order to receive an award for your permanent partial disability your physician must be able to state that you have reached MMI. If your physician cannot state that you have reached MMI, the Workers’ Compensation Commission will likely want to wait until you reach that point in your medical treatment in order to award your PPD.