Notice Requirements for Independent Medical Examinations

By Monica A. Nassar, Attorney at Law

It has been almost one year since the notice requirements were updated for independent medical examinations. We thought now would be a good time to remind everyone to check your IME notice templates and make sure they conform with all requirements listed below.

Per OAR 436-060-0095(3), the following must be included with all notifications regarding independent medical examinations:

1. The name of the examiner or facility;

2. A statement of the specific purpose for the examination* and the medical specialties of the examiner(s);

3. The date, time, and place of the examination;

4. The first and last name of the attending physician or a statement there is no attending physician;

5. If applicable, confirmation the director has approved the examination (which may be required if there have been more than 3 IMEs on the claim);

6. A statement that the reasonable cost of public transportation or use of a private vehicle will be reimbursed and, when necessary, the reasonable cost of child care, meals, lodging, and other related services will be reimbursed;

7. A statement that an amount equivalent to net lost wages for the period during which it is necessary to miss work to attend the IME will be paid to claimant, when applicable (if benefits are paid under ORS 656.210(4) for this absence, then this is not applicable);

8. A statement that the worker has the right to have an observer present at the examination, but the observer may not be compensated in any war for attending the exam;

1. • Please note: for a psychological examination, the notice must explain that an observer is allowed to be present only if the examination provider approves the present of an observer.

9. The following notice, bolded and formatted as follows:

“You must attend this examination. If there is any reason you cannot attend, you must tell us as soon as possible before the date of the examination. 

If you disagree with the location of this appointment, you must contact the Workers’ Compensation Division at 800-452-0288 or 503-947-7585 within six business days of the mailing date of this notice. 

Your workers’ compensation benefits may be suspended under Oregon laws and rules* if you: 

          – Do not attend the examination, 

          – Do not have a good reason for not attending the examination, or 

          – Do not cooperate with the examination. 

You may be charged a $100 penalty if you do not attend the examination without good reason or if you do not notify the insurer before the examination. The penalty is taken out of future benefits. 

If you have any questions you may call: 

          – [Insurer] at [Insurer phone number] 

          – Workers’ Compensation Division at 800-452-0288 (toll-free) or 503-947-7585 

          – Ombuds Office for Oregon Workers at 800-927-1271 (toll-free)  

*Oregon Revised Statute 656.325 and Oregon Administrative Rules, Chapter 436, division 60”

Notices must be mailed at least 10 days before the IME and sent simultaneously to the worker’s attorney, if represented. Attending physicians should also be copied on the notice. The rule also requires enclosing Form 3921 and Form 3929, which can be found on the WCD’s website here: https://wcd.oregon.gov/forms/Pages/forms.aspx. Since these forms are required in addition to the statements listed in numbers 6, 7, and 8 above, we recommend including the statements in the notice, even though it is somewhat duplicative of the information provided in the Forms.

An important consideration: mandatory closing examinations require extra language contained in OAR 436-030-0034(3). Mandatory closing examination notices must be sent by certified and regular mail. For these reasons, we recommend making separate templates for mandatory closing examinations containing all the required information.

For assistance with ensuring your IME and mandatory closing exam notices are compliant with the Rules, please reach out to our office.

* For more guidance on identifying and stating a specific purpose for the examination, please see our prior March 17, 2025 blog post: https://rwlaw.com/crackdown-on-ime-notice-language-that-is-nonspecific/