The MedCo panel, which was launched in April by the Ministry of Justice, means only registered medical reporting organisations may assess whiplash and vehicle accident injury claims – so what are the implications in terms of accounting for doctors?
Clearly the first thing to recognise is that medical professionals can no longer have financial links with personal injury solicitors or claims firms, but must have claimants referred to them at random.
According to new research from the AA, 79% of people think this will reduce the number of whiplash injury claims, and 36% think this effect will be strongly pronounced.
Even more – 83% of those surveyed – don’t think a medical assessment alone is enough to determine if compensation should be paid, and that witness statements and vehicle damage should be factored into the consideration given to each case.
However, the study found majority support for compensation to be ‘paid’ in the form of medical treatment or physiotherapy, rather than cash – 66% of people, two thirds of the total, agreed with this.
If this were to be the case, the introduction of MedCo might ultimately be good news as it would align claims directly with the skills of the healthcare profession; in terms of accounting for doctors, this should mean more income from providing important treatment to those injured in crashes, rather than providing testimony to the courts on potentially spurious personal injury claims.
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