An impairment rating expresses permanent functional loss as a percentage, either of a specific body part or of the whole person. It is assigned at maximum medical improvement using a standardized guide.
Impairment measures anatomic and functional loss, distinct from disability, which addresses the effect on the ability to work.
Alternative Names:
Permanent Impairment Rating, Whole Person Impairment
Why it Matters?
The rating drives the benefit calculation in most states, so a few percentage points translate directly into money. Disputes center on the guides edition applied, since successive editions produce materially different ratings for the same condition, and on whether the rating physician followed the guide's methodology rather than assigning a figure by impression. Obtaining a competing rating is standard practice where the treating physician's figure appears unsupported.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between impairment and disability?
Why does the guides edition matter?
