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Medical Review Officer (MRO) Assistant Training
MRO Assistant Resources, Competencies and Certific ...
MRO Assistant Resources, Competencies and Certification
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Video Transcription
The last segment of this medical review officer assistant course deals with the subject of keeping up to date. How do you stay current? Where do you go for additional information? And we will also deal with the matter of certifying and credentialing yourself as a certified MRO assistant. First, I want to recommend a couple of books. Just recently in 2010, the fourth edition of Robert Swetinski and Donna Smith's book, The MRO Manual, was published. This is a much thicker and up-to-date compendium that covers the recent changes in the federal regulations and it's probably the single best concise MRO book available. There's also a second very useful book written by Dr. Ferguson called The Medical Review Officer Team Manual and it contains lots of forms, lots of protocols and very helpful practical specifics on how to organize an MRO office and how to run an MRO function. The American College of Occupational Environmental Medicine publishes a wonderful newsletter, 10 issues a year called MRO Update and these often carry in-depth articles about recent research, the most recent surveys of drug use, cases that come up in court in various states, published research and continually updates us on changing federal and state regulations. The Medical Review Officer Certification Council has published a series of monographs, in-depth monographs about specimen collection, about alternative specimens such as oral fluid and hair testing. There's a monograph on prescription drugs which covers beyond the SAMHSA V classes of drugs and one recently published on state laws. There may be additional monographs in the works and so that is another useful source of information. In terms of going on the web, there are two very useful places to go. The first is the site of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and there are several different sites that SAMHSA puts together including the monthly update of the list of certified laboratories. Here's an example of the page, of the homepage of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and this is the division of workplace programs. You see that there's a workplace resource center with a list of certified labs, drug-free workplace kit, young adults in the workplace, prescription drugs, etc. Frequently updated, it has to do with not only drug testing but the federal drug-free workplace programs, information for workplaces on drug policies with model policies and even health, wellness and safety sections. This is the page from the drug testing page. You see regulations and notices, employer resources, federal custody and control form, specimen collection resources, laboratory resources and MRO resources. The other major useful source of federal regulations are websites from the Department of Transportation. Here you see the Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance and this is the home web page which talks about key persons, news, regulations and program guidance, various videos and various links as well as how to contact them. There's a whole section of the DOT website for medical review officers just as there's one for SAPs and for employers. There are also some MRO forums. The University of Rochester has a very interesting forum where you can pose questions and participate in a dialogue and there's one sponsored by the Medical Review Officer Certification Council hosted by Dr. Robert Switinsky who will answer questions that are posed. So this is a forum where you actually have answers but from an expert. The other mail list at the University of Rochester is a blog where people talk back and forth to each other but there's no one expert who's sort of definitively answering questions. You need to be aware of professional organizations. The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the Medical Review Officer Council, the American Association of Medical Review Officers and Boston University has a wonderful program, a wonderful website called Join Together. In addition to the MRO assistant course, ACOM offers a day and a half fast track course and a two day comprehensive course as well as an occasional advanced course for medical review officers. You have participated in the MRO assistant course which is the web based equivalent of a full long day course. ACOM also publishes a resource manual which includes background documents, practical tools and extensive summaries, past summaries from the MRO update newsletter. Finally, I want to close by talking about certification of MRO assistance. It's not required but it's a way to improve your career, to document your competence and there's a very fine program sponsored by the Medical Review Officer Certification Council which is a online web based examination and by having taken this course, you will have gone through the necessary training to be able to take that course. In closing, we have put together more than 50 questions and answers for you. I encourage you to go through these questions. They will help you review your mastery of this material. They will often force you to go back and refer to these materials as a reference which is very useful and they will definitely help you to prepare for the MROCC examination. So on behalf of all three of our faculty and the American College of Occupational Environmental Medicine, I thank you for participating in this course. We welcome your feedback, your suggestions and we wish you good fortune in your work as a medical review officer assistant.
Video Summary
The last segment of a medical review officer assistant course focuses on staying current and obtaining certifications. Recommended books include "The MRO Manual" by Robert Swetinski and Donna Smith, and "The Medical Review Officer Team Manual" by Dr. Ferguson which provides practical advice on running an MRO office. The American College of Occupational Environmental Medicine's newsletter, MRO Update, offers in-depth articles, recent research, drug use surveys, and updates on regulations. The Medical Review Officer Certification Council publishes monographs on specimen collection, alternative specimens, prescription drugs, and state laws. Useful websites include the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Department of Transportation. Online forums and professional organizations, such as the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, also provide resources. Certification is not required but can enhance career prospects, with the Medical Review Officer Certification Council offering an online examination. Feedback and suggestions are encouraged, with good luck wished for future work as a medical review officer assistant.
Keywords
medical review officer assistant course
certifications
recommended books
MRO Update
online examination
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