Doctors typically refer to maximum medical improvement or MMI as the goal of treatment. When a patient reaches MMI after an accident, it means that the patient has reached a plateau in recovery and that medical treatment cannot improve his or her condition any better than it is at that time.
For example, if a person gets in a car accident and treats with a chiropractor for three months for soft tissue injuries, the patient will be at MMI when his or her symptoms completely resolve. However, not all examples are so simple. In some cases, a patient may never recover 100% from his or her accident related injuries. But it is still possible to reach MMI. MMI is reached when the doctor says, “You are as healed as you are going to get.” Thus, it is possible to be at MMI and still experience pain and other symptoms from an accident.
MMI has several implications on legal cases. In personal injury cases, reaching MMI is important to determine the value of the case. For instance, if a patient reaches MMI and will still have residual pain and will not be able to return to work because of a permanent partial disability, the patient’s case will be more valuable. This is because even though the patient is MMI, the patient will endure future pain and suffering and loss of income. Thus, it is best to reach MMI before settling a personal injury case because you and your attorney will need to know how the accident will affect your future when arguing the value of your case.
In workers’ compensation cases, MMI is important in determining the eligibility for future wage disability payments. “Upon reaching [MMI], an injured worker who is able to return to work, even in pain, is no longer eligible for [temporary total disability] benefits, but is relegated to [supplemental earnings] benefits if he is unable to earn 90% of his pre-accident wages.” Numa C. Hero & Son, et. al. v. Leleux, 15-305 (La. App. 3 Cir. 12/23/15), 178 So. 3d 595, 600. In other words, when an injured worker reaches MMI and can return to work, he will likely be owed less future wage benefits or potentially no future wage benefits.
Additionally, a patient can be MMI to one doctor and not MMI to another. For instance, a pain management doctor may say that a patient is MMI from a conservative care standpoint—i.e., injections, physical therapy and medications. But a surgeon may say of the same patient that he or she will not be MMI until after surgery, if the patient is a surgical candidate.
If you have suffered injury from an accident and have questions about how reaching maximum medical improvement (MMI) may affect your personal injury or workers’ compensation case, contact Law Office of Donald D’Aunoy Jr., LLC today for a FREE consultation.
