Following on from the publication of the MedCo review outcomes on 29 March, the MoJ has today published a revised set of Qualifying Criteria for MROs. The revised criteria have been amended to provide greater clarity, and now include a definition of an MRO to demonstrate the types of MRO model acceptable for the purposes of providing medical reports via the MedCo system.
Under the definition, organisations set up purely as a ‘shell’ to gather instructions and forward them on to a ‘parent’ or other related organisation are not allowed. For information, the new criteria applies:
Further guidance on the interpretation and application of these criteria will be published on the MedCo website.
On 16 July the government issued a public Call for Evidence to enable all stakeholders to make submissions in relation to what we refer to as the ‘offer’ (i.e. the number and mix of MROs presented to the user following a search on MedCo), the qualifying criteria for MROs and the declaration of financial links. It was made clear that the principle of random allocation was out of scope of the review.
The Call for Evidence closed on 4 September 2015 with a total of 93 responses received from insurers, claimant and defendant solicitors, medical experts, MROs, physiotherapists, trade unions and alternative business structures.
A number of open stakeholder workshops were also held in Manchester, Birmingham and London to hear directly from stakeholders operating in the sector. Finally, an analysis of the relevant MedCo management information was also undertaken.
The key outcomes of the review are outlined in the document below.
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