Premier Medical Group sets benchmark in electronic medical reporting
23rd January 2009 – Premier Medical Group (PMG), the UK ’s largest provider of medical opinion, has become the first medico-legal reporting agency to be able offer a fully electronic medical report process to claimant solicitors.
The move will enable claimant solicitors to settle injury claims faster through improved cycle times and taking part in electronic arbitrage; while also providing insurers with data processing efficiencies. This represents a significant step forward in the reduction of personal injury claims’ settlement times and processing costs.
The PMG process utilises WARP Technologies’ software and enables all aspects of a report including treatment and prognosis to be completed during the medical consultation. On completing the consultation the report is available immediately in paper, email and XML (electronic) formats to be sent to the Solicitor either directly or, at the request of the claimant Solicitor, through an effective arbitration process.
Commenting on Premier Medical’s decision to offer fully electronic medical reports Jason Powell , Chief Executive Officer of Premier Medical, said: “A major driver behind our decision was the opportunity to provide clients with measurable customer service benefits including consistency in the format of reports which in turn with offer real improvements in overall claims cycle times. We want to play a proactive role in enabling our customers reduce process costs helping them to be more competitive in their market.”
On the role of medical agencies, Dr Harry Brünjes, Chairman of PMG, said: “Our sector needs to address the inherent inefficiencies in the reporting process. Medical agencies should be driving change in the way reports are produced enabling the transformation of the claims process so many in the industry want to see. A faster claims process is of benefit to all parties so we are proud to be leading the sector with this facility.”
As a result of this move, PMG has also become the first agency to be fully compliant with PICAS, part of Claims Outcome Adviser, the specialist injury claims management system developed by Insurance Services Office Ltd. Claimant Solicitors participating in the PICAS scheme will be able to settle many simple claims electronically; This will provide business process benefits including greater consistency in claims data and a reduction of data input duplication and errors.
Commenting on the importance of this move on the injury claims process looking ahead, Powell said: “Clearly, we are just at the start and there are cultural and business process hurdles ahead that we cannot underestimate. However, fully electronic medical reports pave the way for a universally recognised ethical electronic arbitration process that supports both claimant and unrepresented third party.”
Premier has already made significant investments in service-based systems to create more efficient business processes for its clients. These include Live Book, the Group’s online appointment reservation service.