American Medical Association (AMA)

The American Medical Association is the largest association of medical doctors, physicians and medical students in the United States. Founded in 1847, the American Medical Association identifies their mission as the "promotion of the art and science of medicine with the goal of improving public health and protecting the interests of American physicians."

The AMA strives to advance physician-patient relationships and to ensure that health care costs are prudently managed. To do this they maintain a group of participants who are highly capable, well coordinated and focused on high impact results. They also work to set standards for medical education, advancing medical science, and establishing core values for the medical profession.

The AMA and workers' compensation

The American Medical Association (AMA) has created the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment which are guidelines used in workers' compensation systems, federal systems, automobile casualty and personal injury cases to rate impairment to determine an injured worker's level of impairment.

The goal of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment is to create a standardized methodology which can "enhance the relevancy of impairment ratings, improve internal consistency and promote ease of application to the rating process."