Workplace Accommodation Medical Opinions
Medical Documentation to Support Your Workplace Accommodation Request
Workplace Accommodation IMOs
When an agency or employer requests medical documentation to support a workplace accommodation, a diagnosis alone may not fully explain how your condition affects your ability to work. Our independent physician evaluations examine the relationship between your medical condition, functional limitations, essential job duties, and requested workplace accommodations. We provide objective, evidence-based medical documentation to help employees and employers better understand accommodation needs.
More Than a Diagnosis
Medical records are primarily written for treatment. They may document your diagnosis, symptoms, medications, imaging, laboratory findings, and treatment history without explaining how those findings affect your work.
For a reasonable accommodation request, the more important medical questions are often:
- What functional limitations are caused by the medical condition?
- Which work activities are affected?
- How significant are those limitations?
- How long are they expected to last?
- Why is a particular accommodation medically appropriate?
- How may the accommodation help you perform the essential functions of your position?
A physician-authored medical opinion brings the relevant medical and occupational information together to address these questions clearly.
A diagnosis identifies the condition; a functional opinion explains its impact on work.
When a Physician Opinion May Add Value
A more detailed medical opinion may be useful when:
- Your agency or employer has requested additional medical documentation;
- Your existing doctor's note identifies a diagnosis but does not explain functional limitations;
- A previous accommodation letter was considered incomplete or insufficient;
- Your condition affects several essential job duties;
- Multiple medical conditions interact to affect your ability to work;
- The requested accommodation involves telework, schedule changes, travel, fieldwork, physical restrictions, environmental exposure, or attendance;
- Your agency or employer has asked why the requested accommodation is medically necessary; or
- The medical relationship between your condition and your job requirements requires more detailed explanation.
Not every accommodation request requires a comprehensive medical opinion.
When a shorter or simpler form of documentation appears appropriate, we will not recommend a more extensive evaluation merely because one is available.
What the Physician Evaluates
Depending on the case, the evaluation may include:
Medical Evidence
- Diagnosis and treatment history;
- Relevant medical records;
- Objective clinical findings;
- Symptoms and treatment effects;
- Prognosis and expected duration; and
- Medically supported restrictions or limitations.
Occupational Evidence
- Official position description;
- Essential job functions;
- Physical and cognitive demands;
- Travel or fieldwork requirements;
- Environmental exposures;
- Schedule and attendance demands; and
- Agency questions or accommodation forms.
The purpose is to evaluate the connection between:
Medical Condition → Functional Limitation → Job Demand → Requested Accommodation
The relevant question is how health and work interact.
Examples of Work-Related Issues We Address
Depending on the medical evidence and the requirements of the position, an evaluation may address:
Physical Function
Limitations involving sitting, standing, walking, lifting, carrying, repetitive activity, or physical endurance.
Cognitive & Symptom Burden
Limitations involving concentration, cognitive endurance, symptom-related interruptions, fatigue, headaches, pain, or treatment effects.
Schedule, Attendance & Travel
Medical issues affecting work schedules, intermittent leave, travel, fieldwork, commuting demands, or predictable attendance.
Work Environment
Environmental or exposure limitations, including temperature, noise, allergens, irritants, or other medically relevant workplace conditions.
A physician may also evaluate whether telework or another work arrangement has a medically supportable relationship to the employee's documented limitations.
Medical Necessity Is Different from Preference
An employee may reasonably prefer a particular schedule, work location, or arrangement.
Our role is narrower. We evaluate whether the medical evidence supports a relationship between:
- The employee's condition;
- The documented functional limitation; and
- The requested accommodation.
When appropriate, the opinion may also identify medically relevant restrictions without stating that only one specific workplace solution is possible.
The final accommodation decision remains with the federal agency or employer.
Our Role Is Medical, Not Legal or Administrative
Our physician does not determine:
- Whether an employee is legally entitled to a reasonable accommodation;
- Whether an accommodation creates an undue hardship;
- Whether a federal agency or employer must approve a particular request;
- Whether another accommodation would satisfy the agency's or employer's obligations;
- Employment eligibility;
- Disciplinary or performance matters; or
- Legal rights under the Rehabilitation Act or other employment laws.
Those decisions belong to the agency or employer and, when needed, legal professionals.
Our role is to provide an independent physician assessment of the medical and functional issues involved.
Service Options
Standard Accommodation IMO | $1000
Comprehensive Accommodation IMO | $1500
Comprehensive Accommodation IMO | $1500
A focused physician evaluation for a relatively straightforward accommodation request involving an established medical condition, clearly defined limitations, and a specific workplace issue.
Includes physician review of up to 50 pages of relevant evidentiary documentation.
When medically supported, the written opinion explains:
- The relevant medical condition;
- Associated functional limitations;
- Work activities affected; and
- The medical rationale related to the requested accommodation.
Best suited for: A single condition or relatively uncomplicated set of limitations with a clearly defined accommodation request.
Comprehensive Accommodation IMO | $1500
Comprehensive Accommodation IMO | $1500
Comprehensive Accommodation IMO | $1500
An in-depth occupational medical evaluation for more complex workplace accommodation matters.
Includes physician review of up to 50 pages of relevant evidentiary documentation.
The evaluation may address:
- Multiple interacting medical conditions;
- Several functional limitations;
- Multiple essential job duties;
- Telework or remote-work requests;
- Substantial travel or fieldwork restrictions;
- Physical or cognitive endurance;
- Environmental restrictions;
- Attendance or schedule issues; or
- Prior medical documentation considered insufficient by the agency.
Best suited for: Cases requiring detailed medical reasoning about the relationship between health conditions, functional capacity, essential job functions, and accommodation needs.
What Records Are Helpful?
Focused Records Are Usually More Helpful Than a Large File
For most accommodation evaluations, we do not need your entire history. Useful evidentiary records may include:
- Recent records documenting the condition involved;
- Relevant specialist evaluations;
- Important objective testing;
- Current treatment information;
- Prior accommodation letters;
- The agency's request for medical documentation;
- Agency forms or specific questions;
- Your official position description; and
- A clear description of your essential job duties.
We can assist you with identifying specific records after reviewing your intake information.
Accommodation or Disability Retirement?
Are You Trying to Continue Working?
Has Continued Work Become Unsustainable?
Has Continued Work Become Unsustainable?
A reasonable accommodation is generally intended to help an employee remain in the position by addressing medically supported barriers to performing the job.
Has Continued Work Become Unsustainable?
Has Continued Work Become Unsustainable?
Has Continued Work Become Unsustainable?
If a medical condition prevents you from performing the essential duties of your federal position consistently and reliably despite treatment and reasonable accommodation efforts, your situation may involve a different medical question that can be answered by a federal disability retirement review.
Independent. Evidence-Based. Physician-Authored.
Payment does not purchase a predetermined medical conclusion.
Before issuing an opinion, the physician determines whether the available evidence medically supports the requested conclusions.
Sometimes the requested accommodation is medically well supported.
Sometimes additional documentation is needed.
Sometimes the evidence supports functional restrictions, but does not establish that one particular accommodation is medically necessary.
This independence is an important part of a credible medical opinion.
Do You Need Medical Documentation for a Workplace Accommodation Request?
If your agency or employer has requested medical documentation, or your existing documentation does not adequately explain how your condition affects your work, we can evaluate whether a physician medical opinion is appropriate.
Not sure whether you need a Standard or Comprehensive evaluation? You can request an accommodation case review, and we can help determine which level best fits the medical question.
Medical opinions prepared by physicians experienced in Internal Medicine, Occupational Medicine, and independent medical evidence evaluation.
Independent physician medical opinions for workplace accommodations, federal disability retirement, Social Security disability, and selected military matters.
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