Working as an independent medical expert: your roles, responsibilities, and liabilities
Independent medical experts (IMEs) are medical professionals who are contracted by third parties (often lawyers, insurers or courts/tribunals/regulators) to conduct unbiased independent assessments on a range of matters relevant to legal proceedings, such as the quality of care provided by a practitioner, the degree of injury suffered by a patient, or whether a patient’s injury was caused or contributed to by a practitioner’s alleged negligence. The responsibilities of IMEs differ from doctors in a usual therapeutic partnership. Since they offer information and analysis in areas beyond the court's expertise, their opinion is extremely important.
In many types of legal claims and notifications against health practitioners, independent medical expert evidence plays a crucial role in assisting courts or regulators to determine whether or not a practitioner provided healthcare to an appropriate standard and whether or not they breached the duty of care that they owed to the patient.
Despite the absence of a traditional therapeutic relationship, IMEs owe duties to the patient being examined, the party commissioning the report and, importantly, the court or regulator if they will ultimately be considering the evidence provided by the IME. Balancing these competing duties and obligations can be challenging.
In this webinar, we will hear from an IME who will discuss the joys and challenges of this interesting area of medical practice. We will also hear from legal experts who will discuss the legal obligations of IMEs, drawing upon recent case law and the types of calls our medicolegal advisory service receives from IMEs.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:
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Describe the role of IMEs, the codes of conduct and core legal and regulatory issues that are likely to be on your mind if you are considering, or are new to, this type of work.
- Discuss common dilemmas faced by members who engage in IME work and how we might advise them to respond in different scenarios.
- Discuss how to mitigate your medico-legal risk if you work as an IME.
Speakers
Dr Owen Bradfield, MIPS CMO
Dr Vijay Roach, Independent Medical Expert
Mr Chris Spain, Partner WottonKearney Lawyers
Ms Kate Hughes, MIPS Claim Advisory Specialist
CPD Recognition for Members
1-hour Educational Activity:
RACGP
ACRRM (Pending)
Please note, a Statement of Attendance and CPD recognition for pre and post-webinar activity is exclusively available to MIPS members only.
Extra 1-hour CPD Pre-webinar Educational Activity
Deepen your knowledge and earn additional CPD recognition by completing part A (Critical Reading section) and part B (Critical Appraisal) of our pre-webinar activity.