National registry website regains some functionality

The FMCSA is beginning to phase in some functionality to its National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners website, which has been under construction since it suffered a security breach on Dec. 1.

On April 6, the website added a notice aimed at healthcare professionals who want to become a certified medical examiner and begin conducting Department of Transportation physicals for commercial motor vehicle drivers.

“FMCSA has completed the registration part of the certification process, which allows healthcare professionals to register, receive a national registry number and take the medical examiner certification test,” the website states. “However, at this time, the national registry is not able to receive test results from testing organizations to complete the certification process. FMCSA is working on making this part of the certification process as soon as possible.”

According to multiple sources, there are doctors who passed their test in order to qualify to be a CME but have been unable to be added to the national registry because of the website outage.

“Medical examiners who go through this process will be registered, will receive a national registry number and are able to take the certification test,” the website states. “However, they are not permitted to conduct physical qualification examinations of interstate commercial motor vehicle drivers, even if they pass the test. Any examinations conducted and/or medical examiner’s certificates issued will not be valid.

“If you choose to use this registration process, you will be notified as soon as FMCSA has the ability to receive the test results from the testing organization.”

Medical examiners, who were certified before the hack, have been able to continue conducting DOT physicals and issuing medical certificates to qualified drivers. However, the outage has created a tremendous backlog of examination results that are waiting to be uploaded.

The backlog created in the past four months is estimated to be more than 1 million exams.

Drivers, who are looking for a certified medical examiner, can search by ZIP code or registry number. Before scheduling an appointment, truck drivers can also use the OOIDA website to read reviews on certified medical examiners.

FMCSA hasn’t provided a timeline for when it expects the registry website to be fully functional.