DOT Medical Exams -- FMCSA has a plan and you should be prepared

Anytime I make a presentation on Concorde’s DQ-it services for driver qualification files, I usually start with a rather poignant, but important image depicting a commercial motor vehicle crash with the heading “Do you know TODAY that all of your drivers on the road have valid medical cards and drivers licenses?” Unfortunately, the answers I receive are not brimming with confidence.

- From 2002 through 2008, there were at least 826 fatal crashes involving medically unqualified or fatigued drivers

- Over the past five years, 902,416 citations have been issued to commercial drivers who can’t prove they’re medically qualified. That’s about 15% of the total violations issued at roadside checks.

Earlier this month, Concorde launched a new service through our DQ-it brand that aims to tackle one portion of that question. For the past 12 years, our government division has perfected an online process for facilitating national medical examination programs electronically. Combining the depth of our provider network with an intuitive technology platform, Concorde has facilitated the ordering of hundreds of thousands of medical exams in all 50 states. We have now modified that process to the DQ-it brand to allow our customers to order DOT Medical Exams from an online platform.

One of the major action items on FMCSA’s docket, in addition to CSA and Hours of Service, is the certified medical examiners program (http://nrcme.fmcsa.dot.gov/disclaimer.aspx). There was a great article on MSNBC.com from September 2010 that highlighted the agency’s biggest concern; bogus medical examiner cards being issued to unexamined, and often unqualified, drivers. Many motor carriers task pre-employment and recertification medial exams to their local divisions and terminals. One advantage of this is that it allows the local division to take advantage of local/regional pricing (It should be no surprise that pricing varies by town/city/state). However, with the cost-effectiveness of local medical programs come the complications of maintaining a medically qualified driver pool. How does the local division vet the medical provider being utilized? Who is checking the long-form medical exam in conjunction with the card to provide a second review of the examiner? These concerns, along with the availability of counterfeit medical cards, are pushing FMCSA to establish the certified medical examiners program.

Average cost of a fatal CMV crash in 2009? $7,200,000

Average cost per injury CMV crash in 2009? $331,000

Our DQ-it DOT Medical Exam program aims to tackle these questions and provide efficiencies for national and regional motor carriers. The core of the DQ-it platform with our driver qualification file service has been storing images of medical examiner certificates and tracking the expiration dates. With the addition of the DOT Medical Exam module, our customers can order exams electronically by selecting an approved medical facility and having an authorization form automatically sent to the facility (does not require utilizing our DQ File service). This process will ensure that your divisions are ordering exams from providers Concorde has vetted and also allows for a single, national price for a DOT medical exam anywhere in the country.

Typical fine for a driver having an expired medical card? $1,900

Starting price per driver for DQ-it DOT Medical Exam coverage = $3.83 per month

Although the online ordering provides consistency for how and where your drivers are getting medically qualified, the true value of our DQ-it DOT Medical Exam program is the back-end administrative function we perform. Every DOT Medical Exam ordered through DQ-it is reviewed by a member of our Medical Staff. The staff consists of highly trained medical professionals that have extensive knowledge of driver medical qualifications/disqualifications. The exams are “second reviewed” to ensure there are no disqualifying factors and the appropriate card type (1 month, 3 month, 1 year, or 2 year) was issued. If discrepancies are found, a member of the medical staff contacts the division supervisor to have the driver placed out of service.

Our DQ-it model offers a small monthly fee per driver that covers all DOT medical exams, the administrative review, and coverage in our DOT/FMCSA Medical Examination Review Program (includes review of state waivers, exemptions, and other ancillary program exceptions).