In Part 4 of the Turkewitz Report gives a thorough report on the exam times of a few popular IME doctors.
- Dr. Toriello averages under five minutes.
- Dr. Lisa averages under five minutes.
- Dr. Jean-Ropert Desrouleaux averages under five minutes.
Common to all IME doctors is the claim that IMEs only make up a small percentage of the their practice. Mr. Turkewitz pointed out that Dr. Desrouleaux testified that IMEs are only 1-2% of his practice but also testified that he does "20-30 per week (1,000 – 1,500/yr.), taking a total of four to six hours each week. I’ll help you with the math: if he is doing medical-legal exams five hours per week and this is 2% of his practice he is working 250-hour weeks, which is mighty impressive considering the week has just 168 hours in it."
And it isn't just him, virtually every IME doctor will testify similarly. The problem is that nobody has held the doctor's (or the insurance companies and the intermediaries) accountable. Why would a IME doctor testify differently if there is no consequence? Why would an insurance company not turn a blind eye to this or actively encourage this if they suffer no negative impact? Up until someone involves OMPC or the Attorney General starts asking questions, I fear that this will continue unabated.
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