Definition Of An Imo?

[tagandbag]

I feel like I am asking a stupid question, but I've heard there is no such thing as a stupid question, only a stupid answer. My understanding is that an IMO is an (Independent Medical Opinion). If, this is true, I dont understand why you would have to pay 2 to 3k for an expert witness. It seems that you could just go to a clinical pyhsc. for a half dozen visits and get an IMO. I got one from my private physician and did not cost me anything. What I am saying is if you have an HMO, you can go to a specialist in this field, for thirty dolars a visit. That would be about 180.00 or so. Am I in left field or what, on this. :D

[halos2]

Most of the time it is not that cut and dry. You want and seek to have a specialization to refute the VA's denial. You need to have more evidence that can be argued against to give the Vet the upperhand. One who is knowledgable with the regulatory process is a major plus for the veteran.

Many of the experienced IMO's, as Dr Craig Bash do these exams with the precise information that takes the case and favors the vets by utalizing diagnostics, MRI, X-Rays, Labs, evaluations, etc to basically put the veterans in the drivers seat. It is not just a simple exam, but review of all the exams, and records from active duty to present. This requires hours of reading and documentation of the pertinent facts. Then they have to find the regulations to process the findings of their evidence.

They use regulations and disability information and exam result information and tie it together and determine also how disabled the vet is ie 10%, 40%, etc to prove with the regs the limitations and problems the vet has suffered, and continues to suffer. Lengthy process. You pay for their time and knowledge to help you. Nothing is guaranteed though.

Edited August 23, 2008 by halos2

[Berta]

Often a private doctor will do an IMO for free.

One vet here locally-his private doc had to do the IMO 3 times- he was ticked-

first the VA challenged his expertise- he thought everyone had heard of him- a major specialist here in NY-but

he had failed to state his expertise in the IMO.

Then he sent in another one but did not read the extensive work I had done on the veteran's SMRs-

and did not access them in the way he should have-

finally he got to point of understanding why the vet needed the IMO- for the nexus to his service ---and then VA accepted the 3rd IMO and the vet succeeded.

Before I contacted Dr. BAsh-I traced a former VA doc my husband had-the only VA doc in 6 years who seemed to have a clue-on Rods condition.

He had left VA-it took my months to find him on the west coast-and when I did I emailed him asking about his entries in Rod's med recs-

he then emailed me and remembered Rod and wanted some Med lab reports.

The copy I sent him was not clear enough-the VA had cut off part of the Chem list- it then took me almost 5 months to get a clear copy-long story there-

ten years ago I had no problems getting these med recs but suddenly the VA wanted all this legal stuff from me proving who I was-before they would realise this single chem report-

the VA FOIA officer knew me personally for almost 20 years and knew Rod too-but she asked me for a rigamorale-

when the former VA doc got the recs he emailed me with a powerful statement-

a single sentence-

when Dr. BAsh called me up (after he got my email for an IMO) I read this statement to Dr. BAsh and he loved it-

he incorporated it into his IMO and got the former VA doctor to send the email statement on his letterhead.

This free short IMO statement (which took a long time to get)is very probative to my claim for many reasons.It does not conform to the VA IMO criteria but completely supports the costly IMO from Dr. Bash.

Also the doc was a former VA doctor too which should have some weight.

A vet should not overlook any potential at all to get a possible freeby

and even if it is just a short statement it can highlight a costly IMO and tip the scales even more in their favor-

I actually had a VA doc agree with my claim some time ago-and I asked him for an IMO-but he reminded me I knocked down his last 2 -3 IMOs yeara ago- he finally understood my husband's demise but could not render an IMO (unless they asked him to)

and I know his opinion today would be much different than the ones I knocked down a decade ago.

it pays to try every angle you can think of.

[tagandbag]

Halos2, you are correct in what your saying. I am sure a lot of vets have more than one thing,( mental, physical),that they file for and were denied. So I see where someone, like Dr. Bash, would be a real asset. But, a lot of people do not have the 2 or 3k, to pay for this service, me included. For instance, I filed for ptsd, polyps and some eye condition. I had 2 Imo's for the ptsd, my private physician and a phsychiarist and they told me they have written evaluations for the VA before. First time around I was awarded on the ptsd, 30% and I believe the imo's helped a lot. The other two conditons were'nt really service connected as far as I know. All this cost me was the office visits. I think if It was denied, I would probably "try" to use someone like Dr. Bash. If you haven't been denied or going for an increase or it is a new claim, I think using your own private physicians, is worth a shot. Just my thoughts.

[mobie16r]

Tagandbag,you are correct,there is nothing wrong with using your private psy,matter of fact it is better because he/she know more about your disabilities than some doctor you never seen before.Your private physicians is same as IMO

mobie

[john999]

An IMO is good if the VA disputes your regular doctor's opinion. It is just a way of gathering more evidence. What I did was ask my regular doctor for a referral to someone who really knew how to write a good VA opinion since the VA was disputing my two regular doctors opinions. It worked out for me. Your really want to crush the VA with evidence. You don't want the benefit of doubt. You don't want any doubt.

[jbasser]

There are 2 tyoes. 1 is called IMO. Independant mexical opinion.

Theother one is called an IME. Independant medical examination.

IME is more detailed than IMO. The Doc examines you and compares history to provided records.

Used predominantly for SSD claims, However,I have seen more recently for VA claims.

J