What I’ve been up to lately: Medical Records Reviews and IME’s

I’ve been writing.  I’m nearly done with a book about consulting on Social Security disability claims that I’ve actually been meaning to write for years. I’ve done a number of presentations related to disability in the past including training adjudicators who work on Social Security disability claims, and I’ve taken all of that content and my experience of working at a Social Security disability determination service since 2004 and put it in to print. It isn’t quite ready yet and I’m not going to stop polishing it until it goes out around the same time as my other two publications in November, 2016, but it is available for preorder now.

I also have two other publications coming which I plan to update for you every year.

The other two publications are new books, also available for preorder, that I’m going to publish a new version of every year. You may have never heard of psychologists doing records reviews for disability insurance companies or some of the other referral sources I’ve listed, but that is because it is a very well-kept secret. I’m about to bust that wide-open and publish an ever-growing list of referral sources each and every year. If you preorder either of these two books below I’ll email you a PDF copy of over 70 specific referral sources right now:

The Psychologists’ Almanac 2017  (coming Thanksgiving, 2016) will have articles and news each year along with a collection of statistics and business resources that psychologists will find interesting; it will typically have a practical slant where I try to tell you about helpful resources for life as a psychologist. What earns it the $99.95 price tag ($89.95 if you preorder)? A huge collection of referral sources for medical records reviews and Independent Medical Examinations (IME’s) psychologists can do during times they aren’t seeing patients to supplement their income (and even see fewer patients if desired). IME’s are a fancy way of saying psychological assessments that pay better (it also is a general term for assessments done by physicians as well, typically in a forensic context like private disability insurance or workers compensation). It is a nice option for people approaching retirement or looking to become more independent from managed care.

The second publication, also coming Thanksgiving, 2016, is called Supplementing Your Income with Medical Records File Reviews and IME’s 2017: A Guide for Psychologists and Physicians. It is also $99.95 and this publication also includes the list of referral sources for medical records review referrals and IME’s. If you preorder the book I’ll email you the list of 70+ referral sources so you can start contacting the companies before the psychologists and physicians who waited for the print edition get a chance to. If you are interested in this work keep reading the rest of this blog post because I have more resources for you that I’ve just launched.

I’m a psychologist with 12 years of experience performing records reviews on disability claims. I work on both Social Security disability claims and claims from disability insurance companies (I typically do the insurance company work from home). I also perform IME’s evaluating people for workers compensation in a small office I lease down the street from the state agency I do consulting for.

I’m writing a free weekly newsletter you may be interested in; it usually comes out on Sundays. It includes a summary of news that psychologists and physicians interested in medical records file reviews and/or independent medical exams may want to be aware of as well as educational articles related to reviews and IME’s. It also includes alerts about current openings with companies who are looking for psychologists or a physician from a particular medical specialty to work with. At least once per month I describe a different company that might send you records reviews or IME’s; so by signing up to this free email list you may actually find some new ways to make extra money. I’ll send some of these to the Psychology.news blog as well but I’ll go more in depth for the Reviews and IME’s free email list subscribers since I know they are interested.

You know what else?

Records review work can get a bit lonely at times and while Division 22 of APA deals in part with disability, it isn’t only for people performing reviews and IME’s. That is why I just created two new places (free) online for us to discuss this type of work; psychologists and physicians who are interested in this work can network over performing medical records reviews and/or IME’s here. There is a Facebook group for people who like Facebook and a LinkedIn group for people who like LinkedIn and you’re welcome to join only one or go head and join both depending on your preferences:

• Join the Facebook Group for Psychologists and Physicians Interested in File Reviews and IME’s
• Join the LinkedIn Group for Psychologists and Physicians Interested in File Reviews and IME’s (Independent Medical Examinations)

I can’t wait to start connecting with you in these groups. I will be there to answer any questions you may have and I also hope to learn from you as well.

Thanks again, I appreciate your interest

If you want to get new Psychology.news blog posts (which are basically whatever I want to write about in the world of Psychology on any given day) delivered right to your email, please feel free to subscribe via feedburner. If I write a post before around 9am eastern time it usually goes out that day; if I write it after around 9am eastern it will usually get sent out the next morning by google (they run feedburner). You will never get more than one per day but generally I’m only writing one or two blog posts per week unless I decide to go on a rant about something [like an APA map ;)].

Anyway, I also just signed up for a mailchimp account because I’ve decided to become more involved in educating about medical records file reviews and IME’s. If you are interested in Medical Records Reviews and/or IME’s and want to subscribe to my new weekly email newsletter devoted exclusively to this topic, please feel free to sign up right here: Reviews and IME’s weekly email newsletter. 

 

Todd

Todd Finnerty, Psy.D.