Alternate Career Paths for physicians - Medical Review Officer
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Do you ever wonder if there are some careers out there for doctors that is not just seeing patients, patients and more? I some times do! After awhile, you want some break from the busy practice of medicine. Fortunately, for me, I came in contact with the right people so I could find some of these career paths that I enjoy.
Let me tell you a little bit about myself and then I will write, rather blog, about the alternate career paths. I am an internist practicing in the greater Philadelphia area. In addition to internal medicine practice at Jenkintown Internal Medicine, I also work as a Medical Review Officer (MRO) at another company part time and do some sleep medicine practice part time. First, let me explain about the Medical Review.
How Does MRO work?
This is how the MRO job works. People get tested for drugs at work, such as pre-employment, random, post accident etc. and the results are reported to an MRO's office. The MRO is a medical doctor with some training in interpreting the drug test results. The training is usually a weekend course with some course materials and you learn the rules and the stuff you need to know as you go. Why do they need an MRO?
The certified MRO protects the donor from a false accusation of illicit drug use when there is an alternate medical explanation for the laboratory result. At the same time, the certified MRO protects the Company as a valuable resource - helping with policies and regulatory issues, as well as providing related services, such as drug test collections, breath alcohol testing services, coordination of laboratory services, laboratory performance testing, and preparation of summary reports for employers. What do you do when you get the drug test results as an MRO?
You basically call the donor of the urine, (no, they are not called patients) and do a quick interview which involves verifying their SSN or chain of custody number on the form they filled when they gave the same, ask when they last used the drug, medications, diagnosis and a few questions based on the type of drug. All this is done in a minute or two. What is good about MRO?
You are not dealing with sick or dying patients, you get a lot of free time in between cases depending on who you work for, you get paid reasonably well like $65.00 an hour or so, and there is no doctor patient relationships legally since there is no physical examination performed. I really like it. We have a neurologist who got tired of dealing with all these law suits, insurance crap and wanted another career. She called the medical malpractice insurance agent who knew about MRO and she was so thrilled to hear about. Now, she works full time as an MRO and quit neurology. Most others do it part time like I do and it is a nice variation. Can I do it without residency?
NO, you cannot. You have to be a licensed physician to do MRO. Do I need malpractice coverage?
NO, since this is not medical practice, no doctor patient relationship exists since you need a physical to establish doctor patient relationship. However, you get what is called errors and omissions coverage via the MRO company employer. Who can do this?
Any physician, irrespective of specialty. Can non physicians do it?
NO, only MD's and DO's. How do I get certified?
GO to MROCC.org or AAMRO and they have courses for certification, usually 3-4 days! Where do I find employers?
Do a google search and find out the local companies that deal with toxicology or urine drug test results. I will write about how you can do other things like sleep medicine in a latter blog. Tags for this blog: MRO, Medical Review Officer, Toxicology, Urine Drug Test Results, Alternate Career Paths for Physicians.
This is how the MRO job works. People get tested for drugs at work, such as pre-employment, random, post accident etc. and the results are reported to an MRO's office. The MRO is a medical doctor with some training in interpreting the drug test results. The training is usually a weekend course with some course materials and you learn the rules and the stuff you need to know as you go. Why do they need an MRO?
The certified MRO protects the donor from a false accusation of illicit drug use when there is an alternate medical explanation for the laboratory result. At the same time, the certified MRO protects the Company as a valuable resource - helping with policies and regulatory issues, as well as providing related services, such as drug test collections, breath alcohol testing services, coordination of laboratory services, laboratory performance testing, and preparation of summary reports for employers. What do you do when you get the drug test results as an MRO?
You basically call the donor of the urine, (no, they are not called patients) and do a quick interview which involves verifying their SSN or chain of custody number on the form they filled when they gave the same, ask when they last used the drug, medications, diagnosis and a few questions based on the type of drug. All this is done in a minute or two. What is good about MRO?
You are not dealing with sick or dying patients, you get a lot of free time in between cases depending on who you work for, you get paid reasonably well like $65.00 an hour or so, and there is no doctor patient relationships legally since there is no physical examination performed. I really like it. We have a neurologist who got tired of dealing with all these law suits, insurance crap and wanted another career. She called the medical malpractice insurance agent who knew about MRO and she was so thrilled to hear about. Now, she works full time as an MRO and quit neurology. Most others do it part time like I do and it is a nice variation. Can I do it without residency?
NO, you cannot. You have to be a licensed physician to do MRO. Do I need malpractice coverage?
NO, since this is not medical practice, no doctor patient relationship exists since you need a physical to establish doctor patient relationship. However, you get what is called errors and omissions coverage via the MRO company employer. Who can do this?
Any physician, irrespective of specialty. Can non physicians do it?
NO, only MD's and DO's. How do I get certified?
GO to MROCC.org or AAMRO and they have courses for certification, usually 3-4 days! Where do I find employers?
Do a google search and find out the local companies that deal with toxicology or urine drug test results. I will write about how you can do other things like sleep medicine in a latter blog. Tags for this blog: MRO, Medical Review Officer, Toxicology, Urine Drug Test Results, Alternate Career Paths for Physicians.
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