My doctor gave me two impairment ratings for the same body part. Which one applies?

It is not uncommon for an ATP to assign two separate PPD ratings pertaining to the same body part. For example, if you injured your shoulder, you physician may assign a 15% impairment rating to your shoulder and a corresponding 7% impairment rating to the "whole body." In situations like this, the rating which yields the highest number of weeks of payable benefits is the applicable impairment rating.  This is an extremely important thing to remember when discussing a potential settlement of your claim.

In this example, the 15% shoulder rating would be used to calculate the number of weeks that PPD benefits are payable, because it yields 33.75 weeks of benefits, compared to 21 weeks for the 7% "whole body" rating. As you can see, this would make a huge difference in the total amount of PPD benefits you receive! For more information on how PPD benefits are calculated, please look here.

It's important to note that this post only pertains to those situations where the impairment ratings relate to the same body part. In other words, the rules are different if you suffer an injured leg and an injured arm in the same work accident, and your doctor assigns separate ratings for each of those body parts.

Quick Definitions: "Impairment Rating"

Also sometimes called a "PPD rating," this is the percentage of impairment that the ATP assigns to the specific body part that was injured in a work accident, or to the body as a whole. It is usually assigned towards the end of your treatment. This rating, which must be based upon the American Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (5th Edition), is used to calculate your entitlement to PPD benefits.