Assessment services
Catastrophic Impairment Assessment
A multidisciplinary assessment that tests whether an injured person meets the catastrophic impairment criteria in Ontario's Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS). Insurers and plaintiff counsel order one when the injuries may meet the threshold, usually through an Application for Determination of Catastrophic Impairment (the OCF-19 form).
The problem
The file is thick and the criteria are nowhere in it
The referral asks whether the person meets the SABS catastrophic definition. The brief arrives as a hospital record set plus rehab notes with no criteria pulled forward. Each specialty examines in isolation, and the reports discuss disability in general instead of the test that decides benefits.
- Acute-care findings are buried and never listed against the criteria.
- Physiatry, neurology, psychology, and psychiatry opinions are never sequenced.
- The reports describe impairment and never apply the SABS test.
What changes
What IMECore does about it
The SABS criteria set the questions
Intake captures which catastrophic criteria the referrer wants tested. Those tests stay visible on the case through every specialty and the final review.
Specialties sequenced, not stacked
Each examiner sees what the earlier ones found before attending. The reports reference each other instead of repeating the history four times.
Acute-care records pulled forward
Hospital notes, imaging, and early assessments arrive sorted with source and date, so the examiners test the criteria instead of hunting for them.
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FAQ
Questions people ask
What is a catastrophic impairment assessment?
An assessment, often across several specialties, that tests whether an injured person meets the catastrophic impairment definition in Ontario's Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule. Meeting it changes which benefits are available and at what limits.
What is the OCF-19?
The Application for Determination of Catastrophic Impairment: the form that starts the process. It names the criteria the applicant relies on, and the assessment tests those criteria one by one.
Who sits on the assessment team?
It depends on the injuries: commonly physiatry or orthopaedics for the physical picture, neuropsychology for cognition, and psychiatry or psychology for behaviour and mood. IMECore sequences them so later examiners read the earlier reports first.
What should an examinee expect?
More than one appointment, each like a focused IME in its specialty: history, examination or testing, and record review. No treatment is given at any of them.
Keep reading
Related pages
- Claim type
Catastrophic impairment
We coordinate the examinations and deliver a report with a finding on each catastrophic criterion your file names.
Read - For teams
Insurers and adjusters
We deliver Independent Medical Examinations, Functional Capacity Evaluations, and Medical File Reviews for ICBC Part 7, Ontario SABS, Section B, LTD, and life and health files. A named reviewer signs off every report before it reaches your desk.
Read - For teams
Law firms
We arrange Independent Medical Examinations, Medical File Reviews, and rebuttal opinions for plaintiff and defence files. Examiners attend to speak to their reports where the file needs it, and a named reviewer signs off every report before release.
Read - Service
Neuropsychological Assessment
A neuropsychologist measures attention, memory, processing speed, and executive function with a full test battery that includes effort testing, then maps the scores to work demands. Counsel and insurers order one after brain injury, or when cognitive complaints need objective measurement.
Read
Refer a case, get back a signed report
Send the referral and the questions. A coordinator confirms the file and what it still needs, then IMECore coordinates the examination and delivers a signed report.