Whether it is worth running video surveillance on the day of an Independent Medical Exam (IME) or similar event is usually a subject of debate. There are a few important things that can be determined from them, but most importantly it all comes down to the purpose of the investigation. A scheduled appointment provides opportunities to see things in a light that you may not be able to get on any other day.
If there is still a question on where an individual is currently residing, these appointments provide the investigator a rare tool of knowing exactly when and where a subject is going to be. Locating them at this appointment, and then conducting the follow after help to set up every day to come. Medical mileage numbers, care / service providers, and transportation company billing can all be a big help to an investigator too, as there are a number of methods a “ghost” may actually use to show up for the appointment.
If the question is more the legitimacy of the injury and how the subject presents themselves, the IME allows an opportunity to conduct video surveillance on the subject in two lights on the same day; normal daily activity and also the presentation at the IME. It would by no means be unheard of for the investigator to do video surveillance showing a day in which a subject went to work, took kids to school, did grocery shopping, drove themselves around for the day, but then at the same time also required transportation service or momentarily produced a cane or other medical assistive device that is absent the rest of the day.
Provided the subject decides to actually show for the IME and not skip / cancel at the last moment, it’s also a reliable day for guaranteed activity. In some situations, there may not be available budget to run 3 or more days of video surveillance to target a specific claim, so utilizing the first day as one of these appointments can be valuable in terms of getting immediate eyes on a subject and evaluating additional time.
In the end, there is not really anything that can be gathered on an IME date that cannot be seen any other time. They are useful days for guaranteed activity, provided the subject decides they actually want to appear, and the dichotomy between the presentation at the appearance and the remainder of the day can be quite intriguing. If you have an upcoming appointment for one of your subjects and would be interested in us performing video surveillance for you, contact us today! We would be glad to assist.