Tier 1 MROs lose their shell companies on MedCo

Tier 1 medical reporting organisations (MROs) on Medco have seen their shell companies wiped off MedCo after the medical report portal implemented its new qualifying criteria for MROs on 8 November.

The implementation of the criteria, which were published on 25 October, has seen 134 shell companies exit the portal. Those shell companies who have already been instructed to produce a medical report will still be able to fulfil the instruction and upload their case data to the system but will no longer be able to take on any instructions.

No changes will be made to the number of direct medical experts presented.

MedCo said that all the shell companies that had been suspended had failed to meet the first point of the qualifying criteria. This states that an MRO has to show – among other things – that it does not use of rely on the name or branding “in any way” of another MRO; is subject to an “arm’s length” contract operating on normal commercial terms from a potential parent and pre-dates the creation of MedCo; and that they are fully functioning and properly staffed as an independent entity.

The MedCo board has also announced that search results for personal injury lawyers will come up with a choice of two Tier 1 and 10 Tier 2 MROs. It previously only produced one top tier MRO and six lower tier ones.

“The revised Qualifying Criteria enable MedCo to ensure that MROs registered on the system, or applying to register, do not undermine the system’s random allocation model,” said MedCo in a statement.

“MedCo applies the revised Qualifying Criteria to determine that MROs are properly constituted businesses with satisfactory systems and sufficient resources in place to operate to the minimum required standards.

Failure to meet the revised Qualifying Criteria will result in suspension with immediate effect from the MedCo system for registered MROs and rejection of applications for new MROs attempting to register.”

Mark Dugdale