About
Liana Palacci, DO
Board-Certified Internist · Independent Medical Examiner · Expert Witness
Liana Palacci, DO is a board-certified internist with over 20 years of experience evaluating chronic conditions in outpatient and urgent care telehealth settings, with a specialty focus on musculoskeletal disorders. She has been conducting disability evaluations for the Illinois Department of Human Services since 2005. Throughout her career, she has completed more than 40,000 disability evaluations, providing objective and comprehensive evidence-based assessments of complex medical conditions and functional impairment. She is a Certified Evaluator of Disability and Impairment Rating (CEDIR) and is qualified to perform impairment evaluations using the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, Sixth Edition.
Dr. Palacci's extensive independent medical examination (IME) background includes addressing causation, maximum medical improvement (MMI), permanent impairment, standard of care, fitness for duty, and return-to-work determinations. As an expert witness, Dr. Palacci has provided more than 75 deposition testimonies for both plaintiff and defense counsel in workers' compensation, personal injury, and medical malpractice cases.
Her testimony experience spans a broad range of medical conditions including musculoskeletal, cervical and lumbar soft tissue injuries, ventral and inguinal hernias, COVID-19-related claims, diabetic foot ulcers, venous stasis ulcers, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), peripheral neuropathy, pneumothorax, and other complex medical conditions requiring independent medical review.
She has performed IMEs for defense counsel representing major auto insurers, with particular focus on neck and back soft tissue injuries — the most contested injury category in auto litigation — and provides well-supported, objective reports and deposition testimony for both plaintiff and defense counsel. Dr. Palacci is fluent in Spanish and Russian.
Case experience
- Workers' compensation
- Auto accident liability and no-fault claims
- Personal injury litigation
- Medical malpractice
- Disability claims and pension-related determinations
- Functional capacity assessments & fitness-for-duty examinations
- FMLA second and third opinion evaluations
Background
Training & professional experience
Professional experience
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Founding Physician — Apex Medical Professionals LLC
Chicago, IL · 2016–present
Evidence-based IMEs, record reviews, impairment ratings (AMA Guides, Sixth Edition), deposition testimony, and consultative examinations for the Bureau of Disability Determination Services.
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Associate Physician — Teladoc / MDLIVE
Chicago, IL · 2017–present
Telehealth-based diagnostic and treatment services within a national medical group.
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Independent Medical Examiner — Arthritis & Internal Medicine Specialists
Chicago, IL · 2005–2018
Consultative examinations for the Bureau of Disability Determination Services (SSA), evaluating more than 2,000 claimants annually.
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Clinical Teaching Attending Physician — Labouré Clinic / St. Joseph Hospital
Chicago, IL · 2006–2013
Supervised and trained internal medicine residents; led general medicine teaching rounds.
Education & training
- Residency, Internal Medicine — Winthrop University Hospital Mineola, NY · 2002–2005 · New York Presbyterian Health System / Stony Brook School of Medicine affiliate
- Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine — New York College of Osteopathic Medicine Old Westbury, NY · 2001 · Psi Sigma Alpha National Honor Society
- B.A., Biological Sciences — Barnard College, Columbia University New York, NY · 1997 · Magna Cum Laude, Dean's List Scholar
Licenses & certifications
- Illinois Medical License — active since 2005
- Board Certified, American Board of Internal Medicine — top decile; Maintenance of Certification
- Certified Evaluator of Disability and Impairment Rating (CEDIR), AADEP — AMA Guides, Sixth Edition
- DEA Certificate — active since 2006
- Languages: English, Spanish, Russian