Assessment services
Medical File Review
A physician or psychologist answers the referral's questions from the records alone, with no examinee appointment. Insurers and counsel order one when the file is complete and the question is narrow, or when an examination cannot be booked in time. It cannot speak to current presentation the way an examination can.
The problem
The question is narrow but the file is a pile
Counsel needs an opinion on causation from three years of chart notes, or the adjuster needs to know whether the latest report answers the policy question. The records arrive unsorted, undated, and twice.
- Duplicate records and missing years surface the night before the opinion is due.
- The review answers the whole file instead of the two questions asked.
- Citations point at page numbers that shift with every new upload.
What changes
What IMECore does about it
Scoped to the questions asked
The referral's questions set the boundary. The reviewer answers those questions from the records and nothing else.
Records sorted before the reviewer opens them
Notes, imaging, and reports arrive in order with source and date. Duplicates are marked so the reviewer reads each page once.
Every statement cited to its page
The opinion cites the record it rests on, so counsel can find the source without searching the file again.
Free tools
Try the calculation first
No account, no upload. These run in your browser.
FAQ
Questions people ask
When is a file review enough?
When the records already contain the answer and only a qualified opinion is missing: a causation question on a complete chart, or a check on whether a report answers the policy questions.
When is an examination needed instead?
When the question turns on current presentation: strength, range of motion, mental status, or credibility observed in the room. Paper cannot test what it cannot see.
Does the reviewer ever see the examinee?
No. That is the definition of the product. If an appointment becomes necessary, the file converts to an examination referral with the records already sorted.
Keep reading
Related pages
- Claim type
File review, no exam
The examiner reviews the records and delivers an opinion that says exactly what the paper supports, and what it does not.
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 - Claim type
Med-legal and litigation
We coordinate the examination and deliver a report where every finding cites a record, so the opinion holds up in the room.
Read - Claim type
Addendum and rebuttal
New records or another expert's report get a short, linked opinion, not a rewrite of the original.
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.