Independent Medical Exams (IME): Your Rights and How to Prepare

You’ve been told to see a doctor you didn’t choose for an “independent medical exam,” and you’re not sure you have to go or what happens to what you say there. If that makes you uneasy, that’s a normal reaction.

The short answer: an independent medical exam (IME) is an exam by a doctor acting for an insurer, your employer or the side you’re suing, to evaluate your injury for the claim, not to treat it. In Michigan, you generally must go when your no-fault (PIP) insurer or, in workers’ comp, your employer or its insurer asks, and refusing can cost you benefits or bring court orders against your claim. In a lawsuit against the person who hurt you, you go if a judge orders it or you agree. In each case, you have rights, including a copy of the report (MCL 500.3151 to 500.3153; MCL 418.385; MCR 2.311). This reflects Michigan law as of September 2026.

Told to attend an IME and not sure what it means for your claim? Get a free case review. Four quick questions, no cost, no obligation.

What is an independent medical exam?

It’s an exam to evaluate your injury for a claim, not to treat it. Michigan’s workers’ comp agency calls it an independent medical evaluation, and once a lawsuit is under way, it’s often called a defense medical exam, or DME (Muci v State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co, Michigan Supreme Court, 2007). Who picks the doctor depends on the claim: in Michigan workers’ comp, the employer or its insurer provides and pays for the exam (MCL 418.385); a PIP policy can let the insurer pick the examiner (Muci); and in a lawsuit, the judge’s order names the examiner (MCR 2.311(A)).

Is the IME doctor your doctor?

Not in the usual sense. The American Medical Association’s ethics code calls the relationship “limited” and “confined to the isolated examination”: the examiner doesn’t treat you or follow your health over time. The examiner should tell you up front whom they’re acting for, explain that their role is to assess you “independently and objectively,” and tell you about any important incidental finding (AMA Code of Medical Ethics, Opinion 1.2.6).

An IME is one step in a claims process the insurer handles every day and you may face once. Knowing your rights evens that out.

Do you have to go to an IME in Michigan?

Usually, but the rules depend on the claim:

Other states set their own rules for these exams, so if your claim is elsewhere, check that state’s.

How does an IME work in a Michigan no-fault (PIP) claim?

The duty to attend comes from MCL 500.3151(1), and your policy can add reasonable exam terms that fit the statute; the policy in Muci, for example, called for exams “by physicians chosen and paid by us.” For what personal protection insurance (PIP) pays, see Michigan no-fault benefits after the 2019 reform.

Who can examine you. Since the 2019 no-fault reform, the examiner must (MCL 500.3151(2)):

• be licensed as a physician in Michigan or another state;
• if a specialist is treating you, practice the same specialty, and be board certified in it if your specialist is; and
• in the year before the exam, have spent most of their professional time treating patients or teaching in an accredited medical school, residency or clinical research program (in that specialty, if the specialty rule applies).

If you think the examiner doesn’t qualify, tell the insurer in writing before the exam.

Who can come with you. The no-fault act’s exam sections don’t say. In Muci, the Michigan Supreme Court held that the general court rule on exams, which can let your lawyer attend, doesn’t apply to PIP exams, and that a judge can add conditions only on specific evidence that the exam would cause annoyance, embarrassment or oppression (MCL 500.3159). To bring someone, ask the insurer in writing first.

The report. If you ask, the insurer must give you every written report on the exam. It can then ask for your other reports on the same condition, your providers’ names and your authorization to copy relevant records. And, for that claim, you waive any privilege over testimony from everyone else who has examined you, or later examines you, for that condition. Deposing the examiner waives it too (MCL 500.3152). Talk to a lawyer before you ask.

If benefits stop after the exam, see what to do when a Michigan PIP claim is denied or cut off.

How do IMEs work in workers’ comp?

In Michigan, after you’ve given notice of your injury, and from time to time while you’re disabled, you must go to an exam by a physician or surgeon your employer or its insurer provides and pays for, if it asks. Your rights (MCL 418.385):

• Your own doctor. You can have a physician you choose and pay for present at the exam.
• The report. You or your lawyer must get a complete copy of every exam report about the injury within 15 days of asking. The state’s Workers’ Disability Compensation Agency says you may request it from the insurer in writing.
• Travel. The insurer generally pays your travel expenses for the exam in advance. Tell it your mileage and other expenses in writing (Mich Admin Code R 408.45(2)).

What if the IME doctor disagrees with your doctor?

The agency says you have a right to follow your own doctor’s advice, but your employer or its insurer also has a right to follow the IME doctor’s recommendations, and following your doctor’s restrictions may lead to a suspension of benefits. Its other options are to show the IME report to your doctor and send the insurer your doctor’s opinion or, if you safely can, to try working within the IME restrictions. If your checks stop, you can ask for mediation or a hearing on Form WC-104A (MCL 418.847(1); Workers’ Disability Compensation Agency). See how Michigan workers’ comp works and how workers’ comp settlements work.

What about an exam in a lawsuit?

Once you sue the person who hurt you, their side can ask the judge to order an exam. Under Michigan’s court rule (MCR 2.311):

• The order. When your physical or mental condition is “in controversy,” the judge can order an exam, but only on a motion showing good cause, with notice to you and every party. The order sets the time, place, manner, conditions and scope, and names the examiner.
• Your lawyer, or a recording. If a party asks, the order can let your lawyer attend, or have a mental exam recorded on video or audio. A recording is filed under seal.
• The report. After a court-ordered exam, if you ask, the other side must give you the examiner’s detailed written report, including test results, diagnosis and conclusions, plus reports of earlier exams of the same condition. As with PIP, it can then ask for your reports on that condition, and requesting and getting the report, or deposing the examiner, waives privilege over testimony from anyone else who has examined you, or later examines you, for that condition.

In federal court, Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure also requires a motion showing good cause and a condition in controversy. See where exams fit in how a personal injury case unfolds.

Benefits cut off after an IME, or facing a court-ordered exam? Get a free case review. Four quick questions, no cost, no obligation.

How should you prepare for an IME?

Most of this is general good practice, not law; where the law speaks, it’s cited.

Before the exam

• Confirm the date, time, place and examiner, and ask in writing what to bring. If you can’t make it, ask in writing to reschedule before the date.
• In a PIP claim, check the examiner’s specialty (MCL 500.3151(2)). In workers’ comp, line up your own doctor if you want one there, and send your mileage in writing (MCL 418.385; R 408.45(2)).
• Jot down your symptoms, treatment and limits, so your answers are accurate and match what you’ve told your own doctors.

At the exam

• Arrive on time with photo ID, the appointment letter, your claim number, any paperwork they asked for, and a list of your medications and doctors.
• Answer honestly, without exaggerating or downplaying. If you don’t know or don’t remember, say so.
• Say so if a test hurts, and don’t push past what you can safely do.
• Read any form before you sign it; see what to know about medical authorizations.
• If you’re asked about settlement talks or your lawyer’s advice, you can say you’d rather not discuss them. In Muci, the Michigan Supreme Court saw no appropriate purpose for those questions in a medical exam.

After the exam

• Write notes the same day: start and end times, who was in the room, what you were asked and which tests were done.
• Tell your own doctor about the exam and any new finding.

When does a lawyer help?

A lawyer isn’t required for an IME, but one can help when:

• Benefits stop after the exam. If a court finds a PIP insurer unreasonably refused or delayed payment, the insurer pays your lawyer’s reasonable fee on top of your benefits (MCL 500.3148(1)).
• The report conflicts with your own doctors, or the PIP examiner may not qualify.
• You’re in a lawsuit, where the order sets the exam’s conditions, including whether your lawyer can attend.

Compare Michigan workers’ compensation lawyers or Michigan car accident lawyers, read how personal injury lawyers get paid, and get any fee agreement in writing.

What to do next

1. Read the exam letter. Note who asked for the exam, under which of the rules above, the examiner’s name and specialty, and the date.
2. Prepare and go, and write notes the same day.
3. Ask for the report the right way: in writing in workers’ comp; after talking with a lawyer in a PIP claim or a lawsuit.
4. Get help if benefits stop or the report is wrong. Get a free case review, and get any fee agreement in writing.

What waiting can cost

• Unpaid PIP bills. A PIP lawsuit can’t recover losses incurred more than a year before it’s filed, though the clock pauses from a specific claim for payment until a formal denial if you pursue the claim with reasonable diligence (MCL 500.3145(2), (3)).
• Workers’ comp back pay. If you were paid weekly benefits and they stop, compensation generally can’t be ordered for any period more than a year before you apply for more (MCL 418.833(1)).
• Your memory of the exam. Details fade. Notes written the same day are your best record of what happened.

What a good outcome looks like

The exam follows the rules for your claim, and you leave with your own notes. If the report matches your doctors’ findings, your care and benefits continue; if it doesn’t, you get the report, your doctor answers it, and any cutoff is challenged on time. From dreading an exam by a doctor you didn’t choose to knowing whether you have to go, what your rights are and how to answer the report.

For more, see your injury claim, from fault to value and Michigan personal injury law in plain English.

Updated October 23, 2026

This guide is general information, not legal advice, and laws change. For advice about your situation, talk to a lawyer licensed in your state. Reading this page or contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.