Public Comment: National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners

On December 1st, 2008 the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a proposed rulemaking for the establishment of a National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (NRCME). Under the rule, the Department of Transportation would manage a registry of all medical examiners that are qualified to perform examinations and issue medical certificates. Only examiners in the registry would be eligible to determine if a driver is medically qualified to operate a commercial motor vehicle (CMV). In addition, medical examiners would be required to complete a test and continued training on physical and medical examination standards (similar to the requirements of Medical Review Officers and drug testing.) Once fully implemented, FMCSA would only accept medical certificates issued by medical examiners in NRCME.

The belief, from FMCSA, is that approximately 40,000 medical examiners are needed for NRCME to satisfy the national demand of 3 million DOT medical exams per year. The program would be rolled out in phases. Phase 1 would require all large motor carriers (50 or more drivers) to only use medical examiners in the registry. Phase 2 would require all drivers not covered under Phase 1 to use a registered medical examiner.

On March 16th, 2011 FMCSA released public comment regarding what a motor carrier has to do to verify if a driver's medical certificate was issued by a medical examiner registered in NRCME. FMCSA is seeking comment of whether to require the motor carrier to verify that every drivers medical certificate was issued by a registered examiner, and place a record of verification in the driver qualification file. Comments are due by May 16th, 2011.

FMCSA has estimated the following impact on motor carriers to satisfy the above requirement:

• It will take motor carrier administrators 4 minutes per exam to verify the medical examiners NRCME number, write a note regarding the verification, and file the note in the driver qualification file.

It is my belief that many Third-Party Administrators (TPAs) will assist many of the medium to large motor carriers in not only meeting the requirement of verifying the medical certificate was issued by a registered examiner, but also establish workflows for catching unregistered medical certificates.

Although we are still a few years away from a final rulemaking on NRCME, it is important that motor carriers begin looking at their medical exam program. Do you know where your drivers are going for their medical exams? Do you have standards and procedures in place for unqualified drivers and waivers? Do you have a program in place to second review the medical examiners? If your answer is "no" to any of those questions, now is the time to begin consolidating your program. Not only will you be ready for NRCME, but I guarantee you will reduce costs and potential liability.