Accessible, affordable and expert medical opinions for New Zealanders and New Zealand companies and organisations.
Following years working within ACC, Des and Peter decided to create Independent Doctor Assessment Service in order to address the problems laid out by Miriam Dean QC in her report to the board of ACC. They set out to create a pathway for the public to get an independent and expert second medical opinion.
The recent independent review by Miriam Dean QC identified the following four issues as the “likely causes of current inefficiencies in the dispute resolution system.”
It is both difficult and expensive for someone in dispute with ACC (or another insurer) about an injury or illness to obtain an independent clinical report. ACC and other Government agencies, insurers, advocates and lawyers, and employers also struggle with access to independent experts and objective reporting.
Independent Doctor Assessment Service core principles are independence, evidence-based objectivity, and clinical expertise.
All Independent Doctor Assessment Service experts are required to comply with professional ethics and the code of conduct for expert witnesses set out in the High Court rules 2016 schedule 4.
Independent Doctor Assessment Service will not use anyone as an expert who relies on one source of income, whether that is ACC or some other source.