AMA Guides® Newsletter - Issue Archive

Articles

1. Commonly Misused Musculoskeletal and Medicolegal Terms

   Charles N. Brooks

   Pages 3–8

   DOI: 10.1001/amaguidesnewsletters.2018.JanFeb01

   Abstract

   The misuse of medical and legal terminology can be confusing and frustrating and also introduces the potential for errors; this article focuses on some of the most often misused terms applicable to injury and illness. A common example of anatomical imprecision involves the shoulder, and patients who complain of “shoulder pain” sometimes localize their discomfort in the trapezius or scapula rather than on the shoulder per se. The distinction between shoulder and upper back or shoulder girdle pain is not merely terminological nitpicking but rather is of clinical significance. Similarly, no terms are more commonly misused than “arm” and “leg.” The most misused terms in musculoskeletal pathology are those related to disc lesions, and one commonly hears that a magnetic resonance image (MRI) scan was ordered “to rule out a disc,” but having a disc is neither an indication for MRI nor surgery. Further imprecise terminology leads to semantic imprecision when terminology is incorrectly used, including intervertebral disc, bulge, protrusion, extrusion, sequestered fragment, hernia, rupture, and even fracture. Physician evaluators and health care providers must understand that—by virtue of the authority vested in them and the weight given to their opinions by claims personnel, attorneys, judges, and others—errors and injustices may occur if they do not understand or correctly use medicolegal terms.
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2. Precision Matters in Behavioral Health, Too

   Les Kertay

   Pages 9–9

   DOI: 10.1001/amaguidesnewsletters.2018.JanFeb02

   Abstract

   Behavioral health terminology is an area beset by imprecision that results from confusing claim determinations, unnecessary evaluations, and poor outcomes that result from inappropriate treatment. In medical evaluation reports, one notes references to depression, anxiety, and stress, which are not diagnoses but often are treated as such. Behavioral factors can affect claims in four ways: the presence of a formal clinical diagnosis that meets specific criteria, psychological symptoms, difficult life circumstances, and behavioral overlays. Only the first of these can be attributed to a workplace injury or illness, and determining a causal relationship requires, at minimum, a precise diagnosis. For example, by depression does the health provider mean major depressive disorder with specifiers, persistent depressive/dysthymic disorder, adjustment disorder with depressed mood, or some other specific condition? The behavioral layers can affect the outcome of the claims process and may or may not be appropriate targets of an evidence-informed intervention aimed at returning an injured or ill worker to a higher level of function. The point is not to argue whether or not behavioral interventions are appropriate in workers’ compensation, personal injury, and other claims; the point, rather, is that precise language is the first, necessary step in sorting out the myriad ways in which behavior affects claim incidence, duration, and cost.
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3. Central Nerve System Impairment, AMA Guides, Sixth Edition: An Overview

   James B. Talmage, Jay Blaisdell

   Pages 10–13

   DOI: 10.1001/amaguidesnewsletters.2018.JanFeb03

   Abstract

   Injuries that affect the central nervous system (CNS) can be catastrophic because they involve the brain or spinal cord, and determining the underlying clinical cause of impairment is essential in using the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides), in part because the AMA Guides addresses neurological impairment in several chapters. Unlike the musculoskeletal chapters, Chapter 13, The Central and Peripheral Nervous System, does not use grades, grade modifiers, and a net adjustment formula; rather the chapter uses an approach that is similar to that in prior editions of the AMA Guides. The following steps can be used to perform a CNS rating: 1) evaluate all four major categories of cerebral impairment, and choose the one that is most severe; 2) rate the single most severe cerebral impairment of the four major categories; 3) rate all other impairments that are due to neurogenic problems; and 4) combine the rating of the single most severe category of cerebral impairment with the ratings of all other impairments. Because some neurological dysfunctions are rated elsewhere in the AMA Guides, Sixth Edition, the evaluator may consult Table 13-1 to verify the appropriate chapter to use.
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4. Rating Knee Impairments

   Jay Blaisdell, James Talmage

   Pages 14–16

   DOI: 10.1001/amaguidesnewsletters.2018.JanFeb04

   Abstract

   Workers who kneel for major portions of their workday (eg, floor and roof installers) may be prone to inflammation of the knee bursae and patellofemoral pain. In the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides), range-of-motion (ROM) and diagnosis-based impairment (DBI) are the two possible stand-alone methods for rating knee impairment. The ROM method was widely used in previous editions of the AMA Guides, but at present DBI is the method of choice for calculating impairment. To rate knee impairment using the DBI method, the physician first chooses the appropriate diagnosis from the Knee Regional Grid in the AMA Guides, Sixth Edition. Next, the physician chooses the appropriate impairment class for the diagnosis and then selects the appropriate grade modifiers. The physician applies the net adjustment formula to determine lower extremity impairment and finally converts the final lower extremity impairment to whole person impairment. Two or more conditions often are found in the knees and require causation analysis in which the physician should choose the single causally related diagnosis that will yield the highest impairment rating. Modifiers should be chosen based on reliable findings that have not been used previously to assign either the diagnosis or impairment class. The ROM method can be used to select the physical examination grade modifier or as a stand-alone rating if the physician offers a rationale that is supported by the AMA Guides.
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