Whole person impairment (WPI)

What WPI is

Whole person impairment is the evaluating physician's measure of how much an injury limits the body as a whole, using the tables and methods of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, Fifth Edition. Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, section 1, defines the "AMA Guides" as that edition. The WPI number is not the disability percentage. It is the input the rating schedule turns into permanent disability.

The rule

For injuries on or after January 1, 2013, Labor Code section 4660.1 rates the nature of the injury by incorporating the AMA Guides' impairment percentages, with the employee's whole person impairment multiplied by an adjustment factor of 1.4, and takes account of occupation and age. The same section bars increased impairment ratings for sleep dysfunction, sexual dysfunction or psychiatric disorder arising out of a compensable physical injury. An increased psychiatric rating is still allowed when the psychiatric injury resulted from a violent act or a catastrophic injury, such as loss of a limb, paralysis or a severe burn.

Why it matters to an applicant firm

Small changes in WPI move the final rating and the settlement value. Applicant attorneys read the QME or AME report for the method used, missing body parts, and whether the doctor explained any rating outside the strict Guides tables. A report with incomplete WPI findings is a reason to send the doctor a supplemental request before the mandatory settlement conference. The PD rating guide walks through the steps from WPI to a final percentage.