The Comprehensive Medical Evaluation

• You may be required to be evaluated once a year for the first two years after retirement, and then once every three years. 
• You may also submit a written request for a Comprehensive Medical Evaluation. 
• You will not be evaluated more than once in a twelve-month period. 

The CME may include:

• Mental or physical examinations,
• vocational testing,
• meetings and consultations with medical professionals, including a retiree’s treating physician and
• vocational rehabilitation counselors.

The goal is to provide objective data regarding:

• your ability to safely perform the essential duties of your former or similar job and
• whether or not participation in a rehabilitation program will help you return to work

• The physician who coordinates this evaluation process will have copies of all of the available medical information, a copy of the current job description associated with the position you held at the time of retirement.
• If you are a retired police officer or firefighter, a copy of the Medical Standards established by the Commonwealth’s Human Resources Division for those positions will also be given to the physician.
• The physician will submit a written report to PERAC’s Disability Unit. If the physician has concluded that you may benefit from rehabilitation, the doctor will include a rehabilitation plan with the report.

You return to work

• You are found able to perform the essential duties of the job you retired from or a similar position in the same department.
  • PERAC’s Disability Unit will schedule a restoration-to-service examination

You return to work after rehabilitation

• You are found able to perform the essential duties of the job from which you retired from or a similar position, with rehabilitation.
  • The physician who conducted the CME will recommend a rehabilitation program so you can return to work.
  • The plan must be reasonable, cost-effective, and approved by PERAC’s Disability Unit

You cannot return to work

• You are found unable to perform the essential duties of the position you retired from or a similar position, with or without rehabilitation.
  • You will be re-evaluated by a PERAC Nurse Case Manager in the future.

The following guides provide additional details to the Comprehensive Medical Evaluation process.