PHILOSOPHY AND CONCEPTS Section 440.02(19), Florida Statutes, as amended, states that a “Permanent impairment’ means any anatomic or functional abnormality or loss determined as a percentage of the body as a whole, existing after the date of maximum medical improvement, which results from the injury.”An organ-system approach is used for organization in this Guide, each section representing an organ system where impairment values will be found for providing a rating for diseases or disorders within that system.The whole-person concept is used in that specific impairments within a region or organ system have an affect on the entire physical and mental status, affecting the whole person, and are thus expressed as whole-person impairment.Impairments are expressed in terms of the whole person, and a conversion process with appropriate tables is used for converting specific regional impair- ments to the whole person when indicated. These conversion tables will be found in the specific organ system sections. Also, a Combined Values Chart is provided in Section 15 for determining whole-person impairments when more than one impairment value is present.The overall final impairment rating sustained by the individual shall be the result of the physician’s evaluation of permanent impairment as found in this Guide. If a permanent impairment is covered by this Guide, no assignment or rating of that permanent impairment at variance with this Guide is permissible. If a category applicable to the impairing condition cannot be found in this guide, then the category most closely resembling the impairment or the degree of impairment based on analogy should be chosen. Except as provided for in evaluating the spine when considering residual signs for ankylosis and spinal cord/or spinal injury, where a category represents the impairing condition, the impairment determination shall not be based on the cumulation of lesser included categories.
EVALUATION PROCESS An evaluation for permanent impairment shall be performed by a physician as defined in Section 440.13(l)(r), Florida Statutes. Physician means a physician licensed under Chapter 458 an osteopath licensed under Chapters 458 and 459, a chiropractor licensed under Chapter 460, a podiatrist licensed under Chapter 461, an optometrist licensed under Chapter 463, or a dentist licensed under Chapter 466. In no case, however, may a physician as defined above give a permanent impair- ment rating for a condition for which that physician cannot professionally treat.The evaluation for permanent impairment, including the assignment of any rating, shall not be determined before the date of maximum medical improvement. Furthermore, pursuant to Section 440.15(3)(a)4, Florida Statutes, an evaluation may occur up to six weeks before the end of temporary indemnity benefits.
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