By far the most frequent piece of evidence used to assist consideration of both the initial and ongoing liability for a claim is a medical report. A medical report can provide valuable and expert information about an employee's compensable condition.
Medical reports can be obtained at any stage in the life of a compensation claim and for many different reasons. They may be requested in order to establish any one, or all of the following:
-
what condition/s the employee suffers from;
-
the relationship, if any, between the condition/s and the employee's employment;
-
the physical limitations imposed on the employee by the compensable and/or other conditions;
-
the relationship, if any, between the claimed level of incapacity and the compensable condition;
-
the ongoing existence of the compensable condition;
-
current treatment regime, including any treatment plans;
-
the likelihood of any future changes in the level of incapacity;
-
initial impairment assessment;
-
prognosis and possible future treatment options; and
-
general information on the condition, including any historical factors.