Automobile accident victims know all too well that recovering from an injury, even one which was not classified as severe or life-threatening, is a process and not an event. If you have multiple injuries, your healing process may be even more lengthy and complicated. Whatever your situation, it is likely that the doctors who evaluated and treated your injuries immediately after your accident gave you some sort of idea about what you could expect to happen with your injuries as time went on.
Many times, accident victims are expected to make a full recovery from all of their injuries. Depending upon what injuries a victim has, the time frame within which they are expected to fully recover can vary greatly. Some accident victims are injured in ways which decrease the likelihood of a full recovery. Their doctors are likely to have discussed how much of a recovery they are likely to make, and how long it is likely to take them to reach that degree of recovery. For these accident victims, understanding the concept of maximum medical improvement (MMI) is an important part of obtaining recovery which is adequate to compensate them for the full extent of their injuries.
As an accident victim who is not expected to make a full recovery from his or her injuries progresses through treatment and healing, their doctors will continually evaluate their progress. Once the injured person arrives at a point where their doctors feel as though they will not make additional progress, they may be declared by their doctor to have attained maximum medical improvement, or “MMI”. While achieving MMI may take a considerable amount of time, it is important that you work towards that goal so that you can attain the best state of health that you possibly can. MMI is also an important milestone in your automobile accident injury lawsuit, because once you have achieved MMI, your attorney is able to calculate the full extent of your past damages as well as your expected future damages.
When you achieve MMI, your injuries may not heal any more than they already have, but you may have to continue with treatments like medication, stretching, or physical therapy in order to maintain the level of healing that you have been able to achieve thus far. You worked hard to get yourself to the point of maximum medical improvement, so it makes sense to continue with your doctors’ instructions for maintaining your health.
It can be hard to wait until you have achieved MMI before you settle your Kansas Automobile Accident Case. After all, the insurance company has been calling you with settlement offers and your bills are piling up. As difficult as it might be to wait it out, it could be even more difficult to discover later on that your automobile accident injury case was worth much more than you settled it for. Fortunately, a Kansas Automobile Accident Attorney can be your ally as you play the waiting game. Your attorney will deal with communicating with the insurance company, and they will help you to analyze any settlement offers that are proposed. Once you have achieved maximum medical improvement, your attorney can calculate your damages and pursue compensation which will adequately compensate you for your damages. To learn more about how a Kansas Personal Injury Attorney can help you to obtain the settlement that you deserve, please call our Wichita office today at (316) 264-1548.
