A qualified medical evaluator (QME) is a doctor certified by the DWC Medical Unit to examine an injured worker when the treating doctor’s opinions are disputed (DWC Fact Sheet E). Those disputes include whether work caused the injury, whether the worker needs time off, whether the condition is permanent and stationary, and the permanent disability rating.
A workers’ comp QME lawyer in Orange County handles how that doctor is chosen and what the report covers. The Law Office of Jesse Melendrez represents injured workers through the panel, the exam, the report and what follows it.
How is a QME chosen when you have a lawyer?
For injuries on or after January 1, 2005, a represented worker’s evaluation is obtained only through Labor Code 4062.2. Either side may request a panel no earlier than the first working day at least 10 days after a written request for an evaluation, or an objection to a treating doctor’s report, is mailed (Labor Code 4062.2(b)).
The side that files names the specialty, and the DWC Medical Unit assigns a panel of three QMEs. Represented panel requests are made online through QME Form 106 (DWC Medical Unit). Within 10 days of the assignment, each side may strike one name, and the doctor who remains is the evaluator (Labor Code 4062.2(c)). The worker’s side arranges the appointment; if it does not tell the employer within 10 days after the evaluator is selected, the employer may set it (Labor Code 4062.2(d)).
What is an AME, and when is one used?
An agreed medical evaluator (AME) is a doctor both sides’ attorneys agree on, without the state panel. AMEs are used only when the worker has an attorney (Fact Sheet E), and the parties may agree on one at any time, except on issues that belong to IMR (Labor Code 4062.2(f)).
Once an issue goes to an AME, a panel cannot be requested on it unless both sides cancel the agreement in writing (Labor Code 4062.2(f)). The DWC adds that an AME does not have to be certified by the DWC the way a QME is (Guidebook, chapter 4).
What does the QME report address?
The QME report addresses the medical questions in dispute and becomes evidence in the case. A complete report on permanent disability must also address apportionment, the share of disability caused by other factors (Labor Code 4663(c)).
Treatment requests are different: an objection to a utilization review decision goes only to IMR, not the QME (Labor Code 4062(b)). Once a QME is chosen for a claim, most disputes must go to that QME, and the DWC warns that in many cases the worker cannot choose another QME or AME (Fact Sheet E; Guidebook, chapter 4).
What are the QME deadlines?
Each step has a short window, and the windows differ for workers with and without a lawyer.
| Step | Time limit | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Objection to a treating doctor’s report on issues under Labor Code 4062 | 20 days after receipt if represented; 30 days if not | Labor Code 4062(a) |
| Panel request, represented worker | No earlier than 10 days after the evaluation request or objection is mailed | Labor Code 4062.2(b) |
| Strike one name | 10 days from the panel’s assignment | Labor Code 4062.2(c) |
| Tell the employer about the appointment | 10 days after the evaluator is selected | Labor Code 4062.2(d) |
Sources: Labor Code 4062 and 4062.2 on leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, read October 8, 2026. The steps for a worker without a lawyer are in the article What is a QME and what happens at the exam?
What does the employer pay for at a QME exam?
The employer pays for the evaluation itself (Labor Code 4064(a)), and a worker’s reasonable and necessary medical-legal costs are reimbursed (Labor Code 4621(a)). When the exam is at the request of the employer, its insurer, the administrative director, the appeals board or a judge, the worker also receives reasonable transportation, meals and lodging, plus one day of temporary disability for each day of wages lost to the exam (Labor Code 4600(e)(1), 4621(d)).
A worker who cannot communicate with the examining doctor in English is entitled to a qualified interpreter at the exam, paid by the employer on request, though the employer generally does not have to pay for a provisionally certified interpreter it did not agree to in advance (Labor Code 4620(d)).
How does the firm work a QME or AME evaluation?
The panel step decides who examines you, so that is where we start.
- Agree with you on the specialty, then request the panel or open AME talks with the claims administrator’s attorney.
- Review the three doctors on the panel and use the strike inside the 10 days.
- Send the evaluator the records and a letter setting out the issues, and arrange the appointment and an interpreter when needed.
- Read the report against every issue it had to address, and request a supplemental report or the doctor’s deposition when a question is left open.
- Put the report to work. If it resolves an issue so that compensation is owed, the employer must start paying or promptly take the dispute to the appeals board (Labor Code 4061(h)(1)).
The firm does not tell clients what to say at the exam; the QME’s job is to examine and report. The denied claims, permanent disability and other benefits pages show where QME reports fit.
There is no upfront cost. Attorney fees in a California workers’ compensation case are set and approved by a workers’ compensation judge and are paid out of the benefits recovered. Which specialty or doctor fits a case depends on its medical facts, which is what the first conversation covers.
