From 6th April 2015 changes to the CPR and the Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value PI Claims

in RTA (RTA Protocol) are being made. These changes include the introduction of the MedCo

Portal which must be used for sourcing all initial medical reports in soft tissue injury claims

brought under the RTA Protocol where the CNF is submitted on or after 6th April 2015.

By now you should have registered for MedCo. Once you are in a position to procure a

medico-legal report, you must login to MedCo and either choose a Medical Reporting

Organisation (MRO) or a Medical Expert from a randomly generated list.

If you select an MRO, MedCo will generate a random list which will include one high volume

national MRO and six regional MROs. Both UK Independent Medical (UKIM) and its sister

company Premex, are registered as high volume national MROs.

UKIM and MedCo

Choose UK Independent Medical.A safe pair of hands.

BE SAFE AND SECURE WITH UKIM

Choosing a national agency will ensure you receive:

> Expertise: national panel of experienced and fully vetted experts, covering

all disciplines and locations

> Data protection and information security: secure processing of personal data,

including data exchange with medical experts through secure portal / links

and report upload facilities

> Predictable high quality service levels: fast turnaround times

> Convenience: provides a full range of complementary services including

Rehabilitation, Pagination and a team specialising and highly skilled in dealing

with your more complex cases requirements.

Our sister company Premex may also be returned in your search results,

if so, please take advantage of the same great service provided by a trusted

tier one MRO.

INSTRUCTING UKIM

To make the process easy for you, we just request that you always provide the

MedCo case ID when instructing UKIM on a MedCo case. This ensures that we

can identify the case correctly and allows us to upload certain key data from

the report on an anonymised basis once the report is completed and the unique

MedCo Case ID ties to the search result.

Please note that not providing a MedCo Case ID on a MedCo case will result in

non-compliance with the new rules. You will be able to instruct and communicate

with UKIM in the same way as you do now.

CONTACT

If you have any specific queries regarding MedCo please email

medco@ukindmed.com or call 0844 811 8546.

UKIM and MedCo

1. WHEN SHOULD I USE THE MEDCO PORTAL?

As you will be aware, from the 6th April 2015 there will be changes to the CPR

and the Pre Action Protocol (PAP) for Low Value PI Claims in RTA (RTA Protocol).

These changes include the introduction of the MedCo Portal, which must be

used for sourcing initial medical reports related to soft tissue injury claims. The

MedCo portal will randomly generate a list of MROs or direct medical experts for

the solicitor to choose from. Once the solicitor has selected an MRO the portal

will create a unique ‘MedCo Case ID’ which must be provided to the MRO by the

solicitor and displayed on the Medical Report.

“‘Soft Tissue Injury Claim’ means a claim brought by an occupant of a motor

vehicle where the significant physical injury caused is a soft tissue injury and

includes claims where there is a minor psychological injury secondary

in significance to the physical injury.”

The claimant must have been the occupant of a motor vehicle so pedestrians,

cyclists and motor cyclists are excluded. Therefore, you can continue to instruct

UKIM as normal for these cases.

2. HOW DOES MEDCO RELATE TO FIXED FEE MEDICALS?

In October 2014 the MoJ introduced new fixed fees for medical reports related

to “soft tissue injuries”. Fixed fees were introduced to Part 45 of the CPR and

relates to a solicitor being able to receive a fixed recoverable cost of £180+VAT

on an initial medical report for a soft tissue injury claim.

The MedCo portal will be introduced in April 2015 and relates to how a medical

report should be procured. The solicitor can no longer choose a preferred MRO

and instead must use the MedCo system which will return a list of randomly

generated MROs or individual medical experts to select from.

3. WHAT HAPPENS IF I HAVE ALREADY INSTRUCTED A MEDICAL REPORT

BUT HAVE NOT SUBMITTED MY CNF PRIOR TO THE 6TH APRIL?

If you have already instructed UKIM for a medical report but do not submit

the CNF to the Claims Portal before 6th April 2015, we believe you will have to

process a new instruction - selecting either an MRO or medical expert via the

MedCo portal to ensure you are complying with CPR and the RTA Protocol. This

might mean you may not be able to instruct your preferred provider.

Please therefore ensure, wherever possible, that you submit the CNF through

the portal prior to 6th April on all cases where you have already instructed a

Medical Report as failure to do this may result in unrecoverable fees with UKIM.

4. DO WE STILL NEED TO SOURCE THE REPORT THROUGH MEDCO IN CASES

WHICH FALL OUT OF THE MOJ PORTAL (PRIOR TO THE MEDICAL REPORT

BEING INSTRUCTED)?

The MoJ believe that this is clearly explained in the CPR amendments to part 16

and 38 and the PAP. Their view is that medical reports must always be obtained

from an MRO or medical expert generated by MedCo in respect of claims which

start under the RTA PAP even where they fall out of the MoJ Portal for any reason.

UKIM and MedCo

5. WHAT HAPPENS IF UKIM DOES NOT RECEIVE A MEDCO CASE ID ON A SOFT

TISSUE INJURY CLAIM?

If UKIM does not receive a MedCo Case ID we will continue to process the case

as a Fixed Fee Medical and invoice it out at £180+VAT. However, as we haven’t

received a MedCo case ID we will not upload any management information to

the MedCo portal.

It is the responsibility of the instructing party to provide UKIM with the relevant

information and to ensure it remains compliant with the RTA Protocol, CPR

and adheres to the MedCo requirements.

If you fail to recover UKIM’s fees either because UKIM did not appear as a named

MRO on the MedCo search or because you did not undertake a search of MedCo

then you will remain liable to UKIM in respect of such fees.

6. WHAT DO I NEED TO INCLUDE IN MY INSTRUCTION?

When instructing UKIM it is crucial that you provide the MedCo Case ID together

with all the relevant case information that you provide in a typical instruction

to an MRO.

7. WHAT HAPPENS IF AFTER EXAMINATION THE MEDICAL EXPERT STATES IT

IS NOT A SOFT TISSUE INJURY CASE?

The management information still has to be uploaded to the MedCo portal to tie

in with the MedCo ID but UKIM will invoice out at the MROA or standard rate.

8. WHAT HAPPENS IF I HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR THE MEDICAL EXPERT

WHO PRODUCED THE REPORT?

If, following receipt of your report you have questions for the medical expert,

simply contact UKIM directly as currently.

9. HOW WILL THE UKIM PROCESS DIFFER FROM THE STANDARD PROCESS?

There will be slight modifications to the instruction process. When instructing

UKIM it is crucial that you provide the ‘MedCo Case ID’ to ensure we identify the

case as a MedCo Portal instruction.

We will then upload certain key data from the report on an anonymised

basis once the report is completed and the unique MedCo Case ID ties to

the search result.

10. WHAT TYPE OF MEDICAL EXPERT CAN BE INSTRUCTED ON MEDCO CASES?

Although a number of different expert types are able to prepare MedCo reports

under the Rules, UKIM will continue to utilise its panel of General Practitioner

experts for all MedCo instructions.

11. WHAT HAPPENS IF I NEED TO ARRANGE A SERIES OF JOINT

APPOINTMENTS?

We understand the intention is that you will be able to use the same MRO if the

claimants are connected through the same accident or are in the same family.

UKIM and MedCo

12. WHAT IF I NEED A SECONDARY REPORT?

If a secondary report is justified then you do not need to use MedCo. You

can instruct UKIM through the usual methods, but please state that this is a

secondary report and include a copy of the initial report where appropriate. In all

circumstances where an additional report is required you can obtain that report

from UKIM, even if you didn’t obtain the initial MedCo report from UKIM.

13. WHAT HAPPENS IF I AM NOT SURE OF THE NATURE OF THE CLAIMANT’S

INJURIES AT THE POINT OF INSTRUCTING?

We would advise that you use the MedCo portal and obtain an initial report. If the

medical expert recommends further reports then you can instruct UKIM directly.

This prevents the risk of you not being able to recover the costs of the medical

report if it transpires the injury is a ‘soft tissue injury’.

14. WHAT HAPPENS IF I INSTRUCT UKIM WHEN IT HAS NOT BEEN SELECTED

THROUGH MEDCO?

This is likely to result in unrecoverable fees. If you fail to recover UKIM’s fees

either because UKIM did not appear as a named MRO on the MedCo search or

because you did not undertake a search of MedCo, then you will remain liable to

UKIM in respect of such fees.

15. HOW WILL I PAY UKIM FOR THE MEDCO REPORT?

UKIM will continue to invoice you directly for the medical report under existing

or newly agreed contractual terms. The financial agreement will continue to be

between UKIM and the solicitor and not with MedCo.

16. DO I NEED A NEW CONTRACT?

Yes there will be some slight variations to your contract; your Account Manager

will make contact to discuss your requirements in more detail.

17. CAN I INSTRUCT PREMEX?

UKIM and Premex are separate companies within the ExamWorks family. Both

UKIM and Premex are registered as high volume MROs within the MedCo Portal.

You will receive the same fantastic service from both MROs, please select either

UKIM or Premex when they appear.

18. CAN I STILL USE YOU FOR REHAB?

The procurement of rehabilitation and diagnostic services remains unaffected by

the implementation of MedCo. A solicitor can continue to instruct their preferred

supplier and there will be no significant changes to the standard process. You

can continue to instruct UKIN for Rehab on MedCo and non-MedCo cases, even

when a recommendation has been made from another MRO.

UKIM and MedCo