ACA/teamCME set to certify DCs as transportation industry medical examiners

April 20, 2012 — The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) and TeamCME today announced that quality training programs and resources for doctors of chiropractic who wish to be included in a new national registry of certified medical examiners for the transportation industry are available in cities across the country, following news that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has released its final rule on a new safety program.

The rule requires healthcare professionals who perform medical examinations for interstate truck and bus drivers to be trained, tested and certified on the specific physical qualifications that affect a driver’s ability to safely operate a vehicle. The final rule also creates a national online database of medical examiners (the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners), where those who have passed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) certification process will be listed.

As a result of ACA’s efforts, doctors of chiropractic across the nation are specifically identified in the DOT’s final rule as a provider group that may participate in the program.

“This is a great opportunity for our profession to make a major contribution to public safety, while performing as primary providers and building their practices,” said ACA President Keith Overland, DC.

In anticipation of the final rule, ACA and TeamCME have been working together for years to prepare a certified DOT medical examiner program and position the chiropractic profession to take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity to respond to a pressing public health need. It is anticipated that the Transportation Department will require 40,000 medical examiners to accommodate the demands of the commercial transportation industry.

Only nationally recognized accredited organizations are allowed under the rule to provide training for the exam that all health care providers must pass before being included in the national registry. ACA achieved national Providers of Approved Continuing Education (PACE) certification in 2011, qualifying its training program. ACA offers a training manual, for sale in the ACA online store at ShopACA.com (click Practice Management & Marketing), to help doctors prepare for the final examination.

The ACA/TeamCME training program–spearheaded by occupational health leaders Michael Megehee, DC and David Thorpe, DC–already has partnered with state chiropractic associations in California, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Oklahoma to make the training widely available to the chiropractic profession. Dates for the 16-hour program have already been scheduled; check the ACA website at www.acatoday.org/seminars for details.

“Today, the door to an unparralleled opportunity swung wide open,” noted Dr. Megehee, president of TeamCME. “Fourteen million drivers will be looking for a certified medical examiner in the National Registry to perform their commercial driver’s license physical exam. The chiropractic profession has every advantage in providing this needed service to the transportation industry, and we support the FMCSA’s effort to increase highway safety.”

“I think ACA is uniquely positioned to be the major provider of DOT certification for the profession,” added ACA Executive Vice President William O’Connell. “We understand how rigorous this exam will be and have built a quality program to help DCs succeed. Further, we will offer this training throughout the U.S. at a discounted fee to ACA members.”

Source: American Chiropractic Association, acatoday.org