Expert Witness and Independent Medical Evaluations

Forensic MED Group has the Medical Experts you need to determine, clarify and address the salient medical issues in your case, be it through direct evaluation, file review, and/or expert testimony. In fact, our evaluators are so proficient, they have hundreds of successful cases to their credit. Our direct evaluations are exhaustive and include all necessary testing to support conclusions to the appropriate evidentiary standard. Comprehensive file and medical record review assures that everything of relevance is discovered and highlighted, and all discrepancies addressed and reconciled. If your case requires expert testimony, our experts deliver, either by deposition or in-trial testimony. In either circumstance, you will first be provided a summary containing clear and concise opinions and conclusions with reference to case materials in order to assure that there are no surprises during deposition or testimony.

Forensic MED Group currently offers Independent Medical Evaluations and/or Expert Witness Services in mental health and physical specialties for both civil and criminal cases; including psychiatry, psychology, neuropsychology, orthopedics, neurology, internal medicine, cardiology, pain management, podiatry, general and vascular surgery, plastic surgery, and obstetrics and gynecology.  Many of our experts come from academic backgrounds and all are accomplished authors and speakers within their respective fields of expertise.   Our experts have proudly served as evaluators for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.

From the mental specialties to the physical…we offer the evaluators you need!

EXPERTS

Agreed and Qualified Medical Evaluations

The doctors who comprise the Workers’ Compensation Team at Forensic MED Group are accomplished participants in the California Workers’ Compensation system.  These evaluators draw on vast experience as well as impressive résumés of forensic and clinical expertise when approaching Agreed and Qualified Medical Evaluations.  Our doctors consistently provide timely, comprehensive reports that present impartial and well-reasoned opinions and conclusions based on thorough evaluations. Quite simply put, our evaluators help you settle cases.

In addition, our caring and experienced administrative support staff provides you with simplified scheduling and a point-of-contact person you can rely on throughout the process.  These highly-trained professionals are committed to insuring a smooth and effective evaluation process for carriers, lawyers and applicants alike.

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION TEAM

Fitness for Duty Evaluations

Forensic MED Group is pleased to offer Fitness for Duty (FFD) Psychological Evaluations performed by several of our highly respected providers.

A Fitness for Duty Psychological Evaluation is a psychological examination that addresses such questions as an employee’s psychological readiness to perform essential functions of a job, or whether an employee’s conduct demonstrates a credible threat to the health or safety of themselves, other employees, customers or others, or to the facility, property, or work product of the organization.

Our comprehensive Fitness for Duty Psychological Evaluations include:

  • Clinical Interview – Detailed history of the fitness for duty concern, psychosocial functioning, mental health treatment, medical treatment, corrective actions and employee response.
  • Psychometric Assessment – Full battery of testing including credibility assessment, cognitive screening, subjective report of symptoms and objective assessment of personality functioning.
  • Record Review – Written review and comment on relevant mental health issues gleaned from submitted records including court or law enforcement documents, medical records, and personnel records.
  • Research – Investigation of the relevant job description and work-related duties of the employee and any pertinent occupational and/or public safety concerns.
  • Case Discussion – Current psychological status utilizing DSM V diagnostic guidelines with discussion of social and occupational impairment and the employee’s insight and judgment into his/her current fitness for duty.
  • Conclusions and Recommendations – Assessment of the employee’s psychological readiness to perform the essential functions of the job.  Discussion includes protective factors contributing to, as well as detrimental factors detracting from, the employee’s psychological readiness to perform the essential functions of the job. Recommendations are provided for future corrective actions and/or workplace accommodations, threat assessment*, and psychological factors and protective actions to maximize safety in the workplace*.

Our Fitness for Duty Psychological Evaluations provide the assurances you need!

In keeping with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fitness for Duty Psychological Evaluation is strictly limited to job-related inquiries and must be consistent with business necessity. The scope and confidentiality parameters are obtained from the employer and provided to the employee in written form prior to the beginning of the evaluation.

*Fitness for Duty Psychological Evaluations are provided within the confines of current research on threat assessment, which provides that prediction of violence is not possible, therefore, psychological evaluators cannot provide predictive statements regarding future violence.

Independent Case Review

Forensic MED Group is pleased to offer independent case review performed by an impartial physician with expertise in the specialty area of dispute. Our doctors are experienced in presenting evidence-based opinions and conclusions for disputes involving medical necessity and appropriateness of treatment, misrepresentation, negligence or abuse, among others.

Our experts carefully review each record submitted to them and provide a summary of all reviewed materials.  They then determine, clarify and address the relevant issue and provide discussion and conclusions drawing from the records and material provided.  Inconsistencies are brought out and discussed, and opinions and conclusions are clearly presented with comprehensive explanations that consistently meet the appropriate evidentiary standard for the case at hand.

Forensic MED Group offers Qualified Psychological Medical Evaluation Experts who can provide independent file review for the Department of Veterans Affairs, the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, as well as for claims made for benefits within the California Workers’ Compensation system, the California State Disability system, and the Federal Social Security system.

Our report turnaround times are catered to the specific needs of each client. We can deliver reports in a convenient PDF format through a secure portal. We maintain records to be available to provide supplemental reports and opinions as needed.

When it comes to file review, our team works for you!

Long & Short Term Disability Evaluations

When you find yourself in need of an evaluator to address a disability claim, be it a long term or short term claim, please think of the experts at Forensic MED Group.  Our doctors not only have decades of experience as treatment providers, but they are experts in their disciplines.  They can clearly identify the medical condition and treatment needs of the disability claimant.  Through clinical interview and/or psychological testing, they are able to cull out the presence of  malingering. Where there are pre-existing vulnerabilities or impairments, our evaluators will address conditions that are contributory to a temporary or permanent disability. And, due to their neutrality in conducting disability evaluations, our experts have been able to provide realistic treatment options in cases where disability claimants may have felt that their serious medical conditions have been sidelined in the process of adjudicating a short or long term disability claim.

Our experts offer their services via comprehensive file review and/or thorough face to face evaluations.  Either way, you can depend on clear and concise opinions delivered by comprehensive reports or expert witness testimony.  Our trusted opinions help you confidently manage your disability claims.

Qualified Psychological Medical Evaluation Expert Witness