State program guides
Cross-state view
See the state matrix report (v1) for a table comparing programs, AMA Guides editions, MMI rules, and fee schedules.
Every state runs its own independent medical evaluation program — California QME, Texas designated doctor, Colorado DIME, Pennsylvania IRE, and more. This index links each program guide with its AMA Guides edition, MMI rules, and key forms.
Browse 10 items
California's Qualified Medical Evaluator (QME) program appoints state-approved physicians who resolve medical-legal disputes, using the AMA Guides 5th Edition and the 2005 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule.
Texas' designated doctor program uses state-selected, state-trained physicians to resolve MMI, impairment-rating, and extent-of-injury disputes, with findings carrying presumptive weight.
New York evaluates permanent impairment through its own Schedule Loss of Use guidelines (2018) rather than the AMA Guides, certified on Form C-4.3 at maximum medical improvement.
Washington's IME program is governed by the L&I Medical Examiners' Handbook, which specifies required report content, work-relatedness analysis, and physical-capacity estimates.
Colorado's DIME (Division Independent Medical Examination) is the state-selected examination that resolves MMI and impairment disputes, applied within 30 days of a dispute.
Pennsylvania's impairment rating evaluation (IRE) assigns an impairment rating under the AMA Guides 6th Edition (2nd printing 2009) after Act 142 restored the IRE remedy.
Florida rates permanent impairment under its own 1996 Uniform Permanent Impairment Rating Schedule rather than the AMA Guides.
Ohio runs IMEs through the BWC (claims-side) and the Industrial Commission (adjudication-side), including mandatory defense medical exams at 90-day and 200-week milestones.
Tennessee maintains a state-approved list of impairment-rating training providers — including AMA Guides 6th Edition training, ABIME CIME, and AADEP — that physicians must use to rate under the Guides.
Arizona's carriers commonly use defense medical examinations (DMEs) to evaluate compensability, MMI, and benefit termination; a canonical state PDF was not found in the 2026-08-15 pass.
See the state matrix report (v1) for a table comparing programs, AMA Guides editions, MMI rules, and fee schedules.
AI and case-management platforms in the IME ecosystem.
IME, peer review, retrieval, and BPO providers.
Head-to-head vendor and program comparisons.
Editorial reference on report writing, MMI, and validity testing.
IME-ecosystem conferences with editorial takes.
Link-out rosters of examiners, LNCs, and expert witnesses.
All ten verified state programs, side by side.
The full index of everything in the hub.