CARTHAGE — Independent Medical Evaluation Company, LLC (IMEC) is hoping to generate additional contract work now that it is certified as a minority and women-owned business enterprise in New York. The firm handles independent medical evaluations (IMEs) on issues such as workers’-compensation claims, no-fault liability cases, fitness for duty evaluations, and functional-capacity evaluations, and others, […]
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The firm handles independent medical evaluations (IMEs) on issues such as workers’-compensation claims, no-fault liability cases, fitness for duty evaluations, and functional-capacity evaluations, and others, says Amy McEathron, owner and president of IMEC.
The Carthage–based firm announced its certification in a news release issued Jan. 29.
IMEC operates in a building it owns at 111 Riverside Drive in Carthage, its fourth location since launching in 2006, according to McEathron.
IMEC pursued the certification to have the ability “to get certain contracts,” says McEathron, who spoke with CNYBJ on March 5.
The designation will help IMEC when competing with other IME firms that aren’t women-owned, she adds.
“I would have priority over anybody in a bid for a contract [with] New York state,” says McEathron.
She wants IMEC to pursue contracts for local prisons, the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF), federal contracts, and those associated with Fort Drum.
NYSIF is the largest provider of workers’-compensation insurance in New York, according to its website.
IMEC employs 10 people, including five full-time workers, two per-diem employees and three at-home transcriptionists, who type the medical reports “that the doctors dictate,” says McEathron.
The per-diem employees work “variable hours” as the demand increases, she adds.
“The flow … sometimes is really busy one week and then not as busy the next week, so depending on the flow they work in the office,” she notes.
McEathron hopes to add two full-time and two part-time employees during 2015 due to the contracts that the firm can pursue with the new certification, she adds.
McEathron declined to disclose IMEC’s 2014 revenue total, but says it increased 40 percent from 2013. She’s hoping for similar, additional growth in 2015.
“We’re on track for that right at the moment,” she says.
The firm has generally produced annual growth of 20 percent to 40 percent since launching, says McEathron.
Medical evaluations
The medical evaluations that IMEC arranges are “like a second opinion.”
“It’s a nonbiased, medical opinion. The doctors do not work for anybody. They’re independent contractors … they review the medical records that are given to
them,” says McEathron.
The attorney, insurance company, or employer requesting the evaluation provides a list of questions the physician needs to address, she explains. The doctor will then handle the physical exam.
As McEathron explains it, the independent evaluation becomes part of the process when a workers’-compensation board or a Social Security review board denies a claim. The board may not view the initial evaluation from a treating physician as “accurate,” so the claimant would then “have to fight it.”
McEathron notes that a patient’s personal physician will “believe and listen to” what the patient is saying, whether it’s true or not.
The physician providing the IME is someone who isn’t “related” to the case.
“They’re not your treating doctor. They’re not paid by anybody. It’s nonbiased,” she contends.
IMEC works with “thousands” of physicians across New York, stretching from Buffalo to New York City to Plattsburgh. It also works with doctors that are located outside of New York state.
“We pay them whatever their fee is. Each exam is its own fee, and then we bill the party requesting the evaluation, so there’s an administrative fee plus a doctor’s fee,” she says.
IMEC has built its client base through marketing to create awareness of its service, McEathron says.
IMEC has “hundreds” of clients in the North Country and across New York. They include insurance companies, attorneys, and employers.
The clients include the Jefferson County Department of Insurance & Safety’s division of self-insured workers’ compensation; Oneida Herkimer Madison Board of
Cooperative Education Services’ (BOCES) workers’-compensation consortium; and St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES’ workers’-compensation and self-insurance consortium.
In addition, McEathron says the IMEC clients include the Alex Dell law firm and the law firm of Fischer, Bessette, Muldowney & Hunter, LLP.
The Dell law firm operates offices in Albany and Plattsburgh, according to its website; and the Fischer, Bessette, Muldowney & Hunter firm has offices in Malone, Tupper Lake, and Saranac Lake, according to its site.
“We’re always busy because the paperwork is just astronomical,” says McEathron. “But the volume [of work] … you just don’t know.”
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com