Templates & tools
Workers'-comp IME prep checklist
What the file needs to contain before a workers' compensation IME starts: encounters sorted by date of service, the imaging read rather than only the radiologist's report, duplicates and wrong-patient pages removed, gaps and contradictions marked, and a citation on every fact so the examiner can verify anything in seconds.
What’s inside
- The five things an examiner needs in the file, before the appointment starts
- Ordering rule: date of service, never document date, and why that is the common error
- What to flag rather than fix: gaps, contradictions, and records referenced but absent
- The referral questions, restated so the report answers each one directly
- A prep-complete line to sign, so the file is handed over on the record
Built for IME / QME physicians. Every line traces to Workers' comp IME record review, which is published in full on this site, so you can check the tool against the reasoning behind it.
Workers'-comp IME prep checklist
13 checks in 3 sections. Every line names the failure it catches. Drawn from Workers' comp IME record review.
1The file the examiner receives5 checks
- Every encounter sorted by date of service, so the course of the injury reads in orderThe examiner should not be assembling the history during the appointment.
- Duplicates removed and wrong-patient pages flagged before the file is sentA clean record before the exam is the whole point of preparing one.
- Gaps and contradictions marked, because both are central to a comp opinionTreatment gaps and conflicting accounts are what the opinion has to address.
- The imaging read included when the injury turns on what the scan showsThe radiologist's one-page report is a summary of someone else's read.
- A citation on every fact, so anything can be verified against the source in secondsVerification has to be fast or it does not happen.
The remaining 2 sections, 8 more checks, open below.
2Before the appointment5 checks
- The referral questions are in the file, in the words the ordering party usedRewritten questions produce a report that answers something slightly different.
- The claimed body parts and the accepted body parts are both listed, and any difference is notedThe gap between claimed and accepted is often the reason the IME was ordered.
- Prior injuries to the same body part are pulled forward rather than buried mid-fileApportionment turns on the prior record, which is usually the hardest part to find.
- Work restrictions issued over the claim's life are collected in one placeRestrictions scattered across visits cannot be compared without collecting them.
- Surveillance, statements, and job descriptions are separated from the medical recordMixing non-medical material into the clinical file compromises the review.
3Handover3 checks
- The page count and the date range of the file are stated on the coverThe examiner should know the size of what they are being asked to read.
- Records referenced in the file but not produced are listed for the ordering partyThe missing list is what gets the rest of the record requested.
- Whoever prepared the file is named, with the date it was preparedPreparation has to be attributable if the report is challenged.
Sources
Nothing in this tool is invented. Every line traces to a page published in full on this site, verified 2026-09-08.
- Workers' comp IME record review — https://medrecords.ai/guides/workers-comp-ime-record-review/
Common questions
What does an examiner most need in the file?
A timeline sorted by date of service, the imaging read rather than only the radiologist's report, duplicates removed, gaps and contradictions marked, and a citation on every fact.
Should I resolve contradictions before sending the file?
No. Flag them. Conflicting accounts of the same event are usually central to the opinion, and quietly resolving one hides the issue instead of addressing it.
Why list records that were never produced?
Because naming what is absent is what gets it requested. An unflagged gap reads either as a real break in treatment or as a missing record, and you want the examiner to know which.
How Medrecords AI does this work
The tool above is yours to run by hand. This is what the software does with the same file.
