The Insurance Doctor Wants to Examine You: IMEs in Arizona

At some point the adjuster asks you to see a doctor of their choosing. They call it an independent medical examination. The examination is real. The independence is a naming convention.

Who the doctor works for

The physician is selected by the insurer, paid by the insurer, and in many cases derives a substantial share of their income from this kind of work. That does not make them dishonest, and it does mean their report is written for the party paying for it.

The report typically addresses three things: whether your injuries were caused by the crash, whether the treatment you received was reasonable and necessary, and whether you have reached maximum medical improvement. Each of those is a lever on the value of your claim.

When you actually have to go

It depends on whose policy is involved. Under your own policy, for example a MedPay or underinsured motorist claim, the cooperation clause generally obliges you to attend. Refusing can jeopardise your own coverage.

In a third-party liability claim before a lawsuit is filed, you are not automatically required to submit to the other side’s examination. Once litigation begins, the court rules allow a defence medical examination under defined conditions. Those are different situations and they get conflated constantly.

The examination is shorter than you expect

People assume a doctor reviewing months of treatment will spend an hour with them. Many of these examinations run fifteen or twenty minutes, and much of the report is built from records reviewed beforehand rather than from the examination itself.

That gap between a short visit and a long report is one of the most effective points to raise later, which is why the timing matters.

What to record

Note the time you arrived, the time the doctor entered, and the time they left. Note what was actually tested and what was not. If they never examined the shoulder that is the centre of your claim, that fact is worth having.

Bring someone with you if you are permitted to. A companion who can describe what happened is more credible than a memory reconstructed weeks later.

How to answer

Answer what is asked and stop. Do not minimise out of politeness, which is the single most common mistake. Saying you are fine when you are having a better day than usual becomes a quoted line in the report.

Do not exaggerate either. Exaggeration is precisely what these examinations are designed to detect, and it damages an otherwise good claim more than any adjuster argument could.

Describe a normal day rather than your best or worst one. What you cannot lift, how long you can sit, what you stopped doing, what you now need help with.

After the report arrives

Request a copy. Read it against your own records, because errors are common and specific: a range of motion recorded that was never measured, a history that contradicts the emergency department note, treatment described as unnecessary without addressing what the treating physician found.

Your treating doctor is generally the stronger witness, having seen you over months rather than minutes. A written response from them addressing the disputed points directly is usually what neutralises the report.

The underlying claim still runs on the two-year period under A.R.S. § 12-542, and an examination scheduled late in negotiations does nothing to extend it.