When your injury has reached a point where it is neither improving nor getting worse then you will be deemed by your doctor to be “permanent and stationary” (P&S). This means that you have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI). Your condition is stabilized and unlikely to change substantially in the next year regardless of treatment. Your treating physician will write a P&S report that will include:
Your doctor will then send the P&S report to the workers’ compensation claims administrator.
The P&S report will affect your future benefits. You have a right to receive a copy of it. You should read the report carefully. If you disagree with anything in the report, notify the workers’ compensation claims administrator immediately, both via telephone and in writing. Put your objections in writing to the claims administrator stating that you disagree with the P&S report. You must do this within a specific number of days after you received the report (20 days if you have an attorney, 30 days if you don’t). You can also get a medical opinion from another doctor. This could be either: a QME (qualified medical evaluator), which is a doctor certified by the state Industrial Medical Council and selected by either you, your attorney, or the claims administrator, or an AME (agreed medical evaluator), which is a doctor agreed upon by your attorney and the claims administrator. The QME or AME will examine you and write a medical-legal report describing your condition.
Once you are P&S, your temporary disability benefits will cease and your doctor will then assess whether or not you have any permanent impairment and are entitled to permanent disability benefits.
If you have questions about being deemed permanent and stationary or you disagree with being deemed as P&S, it is important to speak to our knowledgeable and skilled workers’ compensation attorneys right away. There are crucial time frames involved within which you must act in order to object to the P&S report.
Please contact us today for a FREE 30-minute consultation. Our workers’ compensation attorneys are available to meet with you during business hours, evenings, and weekends. Allegiance Law is located in San Francisco, but we will be happy to drive and meet you. You may contact Allegiance Law, at 415-404-6395. Or you may contact us by filling out the client inquiry form on this page.