The QME appointment is the most consequential hour of most comp cases — not because of what happens in the room, but because of the report that comes out of it: the WPI, apportionment, and restrictions that become your rating. Here is what to expect and what to do with it.
Before: the paper
The evaluator gets your medical records and, often, advocacy letters from both sides. Your part: know your own history cold — prior injuries and conditions will surface, and they feed the apportionment analysis. Bring your medication list and be ready to describe symptoms concretely (what you can’t do, how long you can sit/stand/lift).
During: the exam
History, then examination — range-of-motion measurements, strength, sensation, whatever the injured parts call for. Answer honestly and completely; the exam has internal consistency checks, and the report will say whether your presentation matched the objective findings. Neither minimizing nor amplifying helps you.
After: the report is the case
Weeks later the report lands, and five numbers in it set the money: WPI per body part, apportionment, the job description (it picks the occupational variant), your age, and whether every claimed part was actually rated. Run the WPI through the calculator the day it arrives — the dollars follow mechanically. If a rating string comes back from the DEU or the other side, the decoder verifies it step by step.
If the report is wrong
Factual errors (wrong job, missed body part, history mistakes) can be addressed through supplemental reports and, in represented cases, depositions — the AME/QME guide covers the machinery. What you should never do is accept a number without checking the arithmetic behind it; the math half is free to verify. Estimates for informational use; not legal or medical advice.