Study Finds AMA Guides Accurately Measure Impairment

By Greg Jones, Western Bureau ChiefThe 5th Edition of the American Medical Association’s Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment is an effective tool for ranking the effect an injury will have on a worker’s ability to work, according to a study of 21,663 claims filed in California since 2005.That said, the study published in the March edition of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine also identified two challenges in using the impairment ratings to determine actual compensation: The same rating for different body parts doesn’t always translate to the ...