Portal Login:
  • Clients
  • Providers
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
    Portal Login:
  • Clients
  • Providers
  • About MCN
  • Careers
  • MCNTalk
  • Contact Us

MCN | Medical Consultants Network

The Power of a Second Look

  • Services
    • Independent Medical Examinations
    • Medical Peer Reviews
    • Bill Review Services
    • Utilization Reviews
  • Expertise
    • Short and Long-Term Disability
    • Workers’ Compensation
    • Auto/PIP/Casualty/Liability
    • Independent Review Organization Services
  • For Clients
  • For Providers
  • Your Exam
    • About Your Exam
    • About Your External Review
    • Contact & Scheduling
  • Schedule Now
  • About MCN
  • MCNTalk
  • Careers
  • Contact Us

MCNTalk
News, Insights & Opinions

Home / MCNTalk / Tag: MCN News and Events

Viewing items tagged:

MCN News and Events

February 12, 2016

Introducing MCN’s New Spokane Location

We are pleased to announce that as of this month, MCN’s Spokane, WA office has officially settled into a new home in the Hutton building located in downtown Spokane. The Hutton building is over 100 years old, steeped in a rich history we thought we’d share with you.

The history behind the Hutton building is centered on May and Levi Hutton. Born May Arkwright, May was a political activist and a prominent figure in women’s suffrage. She met Levi Hutton, a railroad engineer, in 1883 after opening a boarding house and the couple married shortly thereafter. In 1897, Levi and May invested in the Hercules Mine and four years later in 1901 they became overnight millionaires. The Hercules mine proved to be one of the largest and most lucrative silver and lead mines in the world.

The groundbreaking of the Hutton building occurred in 1906. John K. Down and Clarence Hubbell built a four-story building in Spokane upon the request of the Huttons. In anticipation of occupying the fourth floor penthouse, May Hutton deemed that “no cost would be spared” in its construction. The couple moved into their new home in 1907, and remained there until 1914. May Hutton died the following year leaving behind a prominent legacy. During the eight years that she lived in Spokane, it is estimated that May Hutton donated more than $450,000 to charity. She was also respected for her political activism and widely known for helping to secure the vote for women in the State of Washington.

After his wife’s death in 1915, Levi Hutton decided to pursue his dream of opening a home for orphaned children in Spokane. The home opened in 1919. Himself an orphan since the age of 6, Levi spent the remainder of his life caring for the children in his orphanage. He called the home “The Hutton Settlement”; it has become a model for orphanages all over the country. Levi passed away in 1928. The Hutton building remained in the family’s estate until 1969. The building underwent significant renovations in 1989 and currently houses offices and retail stores.

MCN is open for exams in this new location. Please note that our email, phone, and fax numbers remain the same. This contact information can be found below. Please do not hesitate to contact us directly with any questions or inquiries.

MCN – Spokane
9 S. Washington Street, Suite 315
Spokane, WA 99201
T: 509.747.0575
F: 509.747.1680
spokane@mcn.com

 


Tagged: IMEs, MCN News and Events Leave a Comment

October 22, 2015

New Paid Parental Leave Plan is Enacted at MCN

by Jen Jenkins, Market Analyst

We are beyond excited about a unique policy recently enacted here at MCN and we wanted to take a moment to share it with you. Since its inception, our company has understood and fully appreciated the importance of creating an atmosphere that supports a healthy work-life balance; this new policy adds to that sentiment. We hope that moving forward this will have a strong, positive impact on our team and continue to make MCN a great place to work.

This policy is a paid parental leave plan for full-time employees that provides bonding time when a new parent returns to work after the birth or adoption of a child. The plan provides 5 days of pay for 4 days of work for a total of 20 weeks flexibly applied during the first year after return to work. This shorter work week will help allow the new parent time bond with their child and enjoy a less abrupt return to full-time employment.

Our CEO and founder Brian Grant is a father of four himself and he wanted to offer a benefit that does more than pay for time-off that new parents generally take with or without pay. Brian notes:

“Over the years MCN staff have had babies, taken some time off that is generally a combination of earned leave and unpaid time-off, and then returned full-time to work. That is an abrupt change for a new parent. We wanted to try something different; paying a parent upon their return for full-time work while giving them some additional time to bond with their new baby.”

One new parent, a father who will benefit from the policy, said: “This is really a great opportunity for me to make sure that I can hit the ground running and see my son and catch great moments when they happen.” Another employee whose own family is complete commented: “What I like about it is that though it won’t apply to me directly, we’ve worked so hard to establish a real sense of team here. This allows people to stay part of the team and know that their needs are recognized during a major transition period in their lives.”

Tagged: Lifestyle and habits, MCN News and Events, Workplace Situations Leave a Comment

June 18, 2015

New Webseries Features MCN Star Jeremy Behrens

Jeremy_BehrensMCN’s Market Analysis Team Lead, Jeremy Behrens, appears in a new webseries, CRAVE. The show was produced in collaboration with the production company Honey Toad, whose own webseries, WRECKED, garnered acclaim from TubeFilter and other reviewers, and received thirteen nominations and four wins from the Indie Series Awards.

The pilot was shot in May, with Ms. Aneesh Sheth directing and Liz Ellis running the set. Nathaniel Buechler and Ben Goldsmith, also of Honey Toad, directed photography. The show stars Sheth with Jeremy Behrens, Angela DiMarco (Chop Socky Boom, Grimm, The Device) Sarbani Hazra (Blissville, Jane Don’t Date,) Amalya Benhaim and DeRon Brigdon (Orange Is The New Black, Grimm). A Kickstarter campaign has been launched to fund the rest of the season.

Tagged: Arts & Culture, MCN News and Events Leave a Comment

June 3, 2015

MCN Softball – Meet the Team!

SQUADby Jen Jenkins, MCN Market Analyst

For the first time in MCN history we are excited to introduce our very own softball team! Dedicated players from both the Corporate and Seattle offices are banding together to compete at Maplewood Playfield on Thursdays. The first game takes place tomorrow 6/4 and the season will run through 7/30, giving teams the opportunity to play six regular season games plus playoff games if/when we  qualify.

Yesterday marked the very first practice for some team members that were able to attend (photo proof provided above left). They’re looking pretty fierce out there! Lea Dilling remarked that there were a handful of them that had never played softball before but by the end of the practice were looking like really promising players. Oh what practice can do! One of the team’s original founders Russell Blount deserves special thanks for organizing the practice and has been officially coined “The Softball Man.” Another big thank you goes out to Albert Jennings for coaching the team like it was a paid gig. Based on how #PracticeOne went some highlights to look out for are: Kyle Brady and Dave Tucker tearing up the outfield; Lea Dilling diving for grounders; Amy Belete taking balls for the sake of the team; and Brianna Bean (former softball champion), Kierra Neher and Caitlin Jacques doing whatever it takes to get that win.

Along with the aforementioned players the roster for this season includes:  Jeremy Behrens, Barbara Bulichi, Jacob Burger, Ryan Clarry, Raul Gutierrez, Erik Madrid, Oscar Meza, Evan Shustoff, and Heather Vasquez. 

We are looking forward to bringing you updates about the team and the standings as the season progresses. Details for tomorrow’s game are below and we encourage anyone not playing and in the area to come out and help root our team on! Go Marmots!

Game I Details: 

Date: 6/4/2015

Time: 7:30 PM

Location:  Maple Wood Playfield – 4801 Corson Ave S, Seattle – Field 1

 

Tagged: Lifestyle and habits, MCN News and Events 1 Comment

April 16, 2015

MCN Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary

Members of our MCN-Northeast staff enjoy a 30th anniversary dinner and painting outing!

Members of our MCN-Northeast team enjoy a 30th anniversary dinner and painting outing!

Saturday April 18th  2015 is MCN’s 30th anniversary. It was on that date in 1985 when MCN completed its first evaluation.

From this first IME, MCN grew to become the first (in 1997) IME/peer review company with a national network, and now staffs 25 offices across the country serving hundreds of clients. In 2014 MCN delivered more than 60,000 individual services. Our network of consulting physicians now encompasses over 25,000 options in all specialties across the nation – and is continuously growing.

We are proud of our contributions to society and our communities in addressing the critical questions and challenges of disability and injury and helping to ensure appropriate care for the thousands of individuals whose claims we review and evaluate.

Over the weekend I came across two newspaper articles addressing the very core of why we do what we do. The first was a column by David Brooks entitled “The Moral Bucket List” which includes a brief reference to the Triangle Fire Factory. In response to the fire, one of the worst industrial incidents in American history, New York State established both the State Insurance Fund and the New York Workmen’s [sic] Compensation Law. These acts had ripple effects across the nation and soon many other states enacted such legislation.

The second article was “When Moneyball Meets Medicine” with the follow-up “Disability and Health Care: Calculating How Much a Life Is Worth.”  This is what we help our clients do: each report we produce is a snapshot of a life, a medical history, a course of treatment, a time when a numeric value is placed upon people. Each report we produce helps facilitate a decision that profoundly affects the injured or disabled person’s life and their ability to care for themselves.

Of course most of our days are spent in activities which seem far less profound than all this, and this is reasonable; we would end up paralyzed ourselves if we were so focused on circumstances of the individual lives whose stories cross our desks every day.

This 30-year mark gives us the opportunity to remember the larger picture of what we do and why it matters. As the founder of MCN and as an employer I am proud to have this opportunity to be of service to our society, clients and claimants.  Thank you to all of our clients who trust us with their work, and to our consultants who collaborate with us in our shared tasks.

Most importantly, we thank all the MCN staff across the country whose dedication keeps us going – as well as all of our past employees who over the decades have helped make the company a sustaining and growing organization.

Brian L. Grant MD, President and Founder

MCN's birthday arty includes a some cake!

Tagged: IMEs, MCN News and Events, MCNTalk: Introduction and Issues Leave a Comment

January 21, 2015

MCN Announces Record Performance Metrics in 2014

MCN is proud to announce continued gains in client-facing performance metrics. While the company has always met or exceeded industry benchmarks, at the end of 2013 we resolved to do better. The key was and is a shift in how we view quality; moving from inspection and correction and rework to the highest quality input from our consultants. This was achieved by engaging all MCN staff and consultants in the process of examining how we get things done, and making a number of changes to reduce error and rework. We also continued to develop our information infrastructure to support these efforts with workflow enhancements including our recent launch of an updated Provider Portal.

Well the results are in and significant. Key metrics include a reduction in total turnaround time from ordering of reports to delivery, to fewer than 17 business days (note that all numbers are aggregate along all product lines, clients and regions – individual results vary). Turnaround from day of examination/review to delivery is less than 7 business days. We have included graphic data illustrating these achievements. We have also markedly reduced the need for rework and clarifications by consultants.

Quality improvement is a process and not an end point. We congratulate and thank all of our consultants and staff who work to achieve these milestones. We invite our clients and readers to provide us feedback so that we may learn from you.

2014 basic metrics

Tagged: MCN News and Events Leave a Comment

December 19, 2014

And the MCN Charitable Giving Winners Are…!

Congratulations to James McLaughlin and Laurel Seim!

MCN has picked James and Laurel as our contest winners who have in turn picked their non-profits of choice:

Anser Charter School, a public charter school located in Garden City, ID, chartered by the Boise School District. Anser Charter School offers an inspiring and challenging educational environment for elementary and junior high children with a strong focus on a connection to and service to the community. (James McLaughlin)

Care to Share. Based in Beaverton, OR, Care To Share’s mission is to coordinate assistance to families and individuals seeking emergency food and other basic needs, with the goal of helping people through crisis situations and to connect them with other services, if continued support is needed. (Laurel Seim)

Each will receive a $200 donation from MCN in honor of our subscribers.

To give back some more, MCN has picked a third winner whose non-profit of choice will be announced at the start of 2015.

These donations are a small part of MCN’s annual giving campaigns. MCN as an organization and through our staff nationwide participate in annual drives to support United Way and ArtsFund. MCN also matches staff donations to non-profits to allow for a wide range of community involvement across the country. Additionally, staff are encouraged to participate in their communities through volunteer time as well as giving campaigns. We appreciate this opportunity our subscribers have given us to provide direct support to these valuable organizations.

Tagged: Arts & Culture, MCN News and Events Leave a Comment

December 2, 2014

Subscribe and Win a Chance to Support Your Favorite Non-Profit

Thanks for reading our blog. To recognize current readers and encourage more subscribers, MCN is sharing in the holiday spirit and giving away $200 each to the non-profit of choice of two of our subscribers.

Subscribing is an easy one-step process. In the right hand column, below “MOST RECENT POSTS” you will see a box with the text “SUBSCRIBE TO MCN TALK.” Enter your email address and you’re finished. You will then receive direct notification of new postings by email. You control how often you receive notifications – from immediately, to daily or weekly – or you can always unsubscribe at any time and continue to visit MCNTalk on the web as you choose.

MCN will select two subscribers at random (with eligible client business email addresses) to designate their non-profit of choice to receive this $200 donation. You can bring benefit to your favorite charity – in your community, region, or nationally – just by subscribing!

Guidelines: While anyone may subscribe to MCNTalk, contest eligibility is restricted to those subscribing from a business email of a client company or entity that manages claims. MCN will contact the winners by email; they will have 5 days to respond or an alternate subscriber will be selected if we can’t reach them at the subscriber’s email.

  • The recipient must be a tax exempt US non-profit with a web presence.
  • The deadline for subscribing is December 16, 2014. 
  • The winning organizations will be announced by December 22 on MCNTalk.

Questions may be directed to MCNTalk@mcn.com.

 

Tagged: Arts & Culture, MCN News and Events Leave a Comment

September 5, 2014

MCN Achieves SSAE 16 Soc 1 Type 2 Compliance

Medical Consultants Network, the nation’s leading fully integrated provider of Independent Medical Examinations and Peer Reviews, announces successful completion of our third-party SSAE 16 SOC 1, Type 2 audit. This third-party audit by Moss Adams confirms Medical Consultants Networks’ commitment to maintaining high standards for security. 

SSAE 16 (Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements #16) provides United States guidance for auditors reporting on a service organization’s controls, while SOC (Service Organization Controls) reports are designed to help service organizations build trust and confidence in their service delivery processes and controls through a report by an independent Certified Public Accountant. The SOC audits provide assurance that controls asserted actually exist and are functioning properly.

An organization can receive either a Type 1 or a Type 2 SOC audit. The former merely reports on the suitability of controls at a point in time, while the latter tests the operating effectiveness of controls over a period of time.  MCN’s audit was conducted by Moss Adams LLP, one of the largest and most respected accounting and business consulting firms in the nation.

MCN has long recognized the importance of IT security, maintaining the safety of medical information and the integrity of our systems. The certification of our compliance with SSAE16 SOC 1 Type 2 standards is a recognition of our efforts and the hard work by MCN companywide, from our information services and operations staff to our human resources personnel in meeting industry standards at this high level. Our attention to security and the safety of our clients’ data is on-going.

“In attaining its SOC 1 Type 2 audit reports, MCN reinforces its strong commitment to the security and availability of its data centers and operations,” stated Chris Kradjan, Partner, National IT/SOC Practice Leader, Moss Adams.

Tagged: MCN News and Events Leave a Comment

July 1, 2014

MCN Achieves Remarkable Performance Metrics for our Clients

LoginScreen-1-rasterizedFrom time to time we wish to update our clients and consultants on company progress and activities. As always we thank our valued clients, for trusting us with your examination and review needs. We also thank our staff nationwide as well as our physician/consultants for their great work in support of MCN. Our staff and managers have worked hard to achieve many notable results, some of which we will share in this report.

The period 2013-2014 has been and continues to be a remarkable one for MCN as we continue to set the standard within the industry for technological and performance advancements. While not the oldest in our space (MCN was founded in 1985) MCN was the first company in the medical assessment field to develop a web presence – thus the valued 3-letter url mcn.com – the first to pioneer online ordering and access, and the first national network, moving from a regional to national presence in 1997. Achievements reached in 2013-2014 include the following:

  • In the second half of 2013 the company released a new information management system after about two years of development. This system is internally called Cadence, and replaced the original system called Andante that we deployed in 2000 (we enjoy musical terms). Cadence is a robust program that contains, in a secure environment, all data pertaining to our work. This includes individual claim files, claimant information, and client tracking as well as physician/consultant information such as credentials and report delivery statistics.
  • MCN has continued to enhance our client portal, a platform where clients may order services, access select information in real-time, and complete functions such as uploading and retrieving files and receiving case status updates.
  • In the coming weeks we are launching an updated provider portal, following strenuous testing and development. This portal allows physician/consultants access to their files for retrieving and reviewing records, editing and uploading reports, and performing other important functions.
  • We are undergoing a security certification process and will receive our SSAE-16 SOC1 certification later this summer.
  • All of our data is maintained at the highest level of security using secure socket layer (https) for data in motion and 256 bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) for data at rest.
  • We have significantly grown our URAC-accredited Independent Review Organization (IRO) division, providing peer reviews for healthcare claims for some of the largest carriers in the nation. This team processes evidence-based reports that address medical necessity and appropriateness of treatments or services.
  • We have grown our physician recruiting development department to maintain our status of having a large, comprehensive and national physician network credentialed to the highest standards.

We have a fine group of managers overseeing operations, client service, information systems, human resources, and sales and account management. We are proud of our team, especially the great bench of talent residing at MCN which has allowed us to source most new leaders internally with promotions to their new roles.

We are proud of a number of data points and gains flowing from an initiative started in earnest in the first quarter of 2014. We have challenged many assumptions present in our marketplace that make little sense in the larger scheme of health care. Primary among these initiatives was a decision to more strongly engage our suppliers (our consultant physicians) in being responsible for holding up their end of quality in terms of fully addressing all aspects of their evaluation assignments and being timely in their report delivery.

As a company designed around medical services and led by a physician, we found ourselves asking why the industry that we are in has tended to not expect the best from consultants, instead regularly relying upon inspection and correction by non-clinical staff after the report is provided by a consultant to address any concerns and to achieve quality. Medical training and practice does not include a non-clinician shadowing and correcting doctor errors. Why in the medical review business did this become the norm? Rather, in the world of most health care services, it is expected that doctors are accountable for their work product. Prior to our changes, we relied upon inspection and correction, leading to rework that was often not to up to our standards, and often led to delays in report issuance with the back and forth processes that were required before the report was acceptable. We have been heartened by the results of setting clear standards to consultants. Our consultants by and large welcomed respect and accountability that this involves, and the ability to deliver the quality that they have been trained in and practice in the course of their clinical work.

While our turnaround times have always been competitive with the work of our peers, as a result of these efforts to-date this year we’ve experienced more than a 30% reduction in total turn-around time from date of examination to delivery of report. We have also seen a sizable reduction in rework and clarifications that contribute to this reduced time.

Our new focus embraces modern quality concepts common to hospital initiatives and general business trends. These are often given names like TQM (Total Quality Management), ISO 9000, Six Sigma, and others. All these include a variety of principles including the importance of root cause analysis, continuous improvement, and supplier/contractor engagement and accountability. One basic truism of achieving quality is that it can’t be achieved by inspection and correction – rather, it requires that quality is built in the entire system and involves the engagement of all stakeholders. In our case this means MCN’s clients, consultants, and staff.

We prepared for these changes by sharing the concepts with consultants and staff, redoubling our efforts in orientation and credentialing, and providing clear and concise documentation along with examination files. We communicated the responsibility for consultants to be accountable for producing a finished product within required time parameters, and personally proofing for content and syntax before allowing their signature to be affixed.

Many consultants have expressed support and appreciation of our joint efforts on quality. MCN staff are pleased to be part of this improvement effort as they see the improved impact of their work with less need to engage in frustrating rework, clarifications, or calling on late reports. We are very appreciative of all who have participated in this significant cultural and process change, which is ongoing.

Importantly, the clients’ experience is being positively impacted and is supported by their own data and audits.

One client, a national carrier, provided us first quarter data that demonstrated:

  •  MCN’s average turnaround time is 9.8 days with the contracted time of 15 days being met 92% of the time. Their other vendors have an average turnaround time of 13 days with 81% within specifications.
  • In addition to our superior turnaround, MCN had an exception rate of 3% vs. 20% among competitors serving this client. Exceptions include meeting turnaround specifications as well as 25 other measures including clinical metrics.

It is common to tout one’s processes and attributes but what really matters is how it is experienced by clients. The difference is being experienced and is a source of delight by those who order our services, and one of great pride for the great staff and consultants who are working together to achieve these meaningful results. Our clients are noticing with growth in referrals, and the awarding and renewals of a number of significant and prestigious contracts with global, national and regional companies.

From all of us at MCN, both staff and consultants, we thank our valued clients for their support and business as we work hard to innovate and excel in our field.

Tagged: MCN News and Events, MCNTalk: Introduction and Issues Leave a Comment

Older Posts

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • The Quality Divide: What Makes a Quality IME Physician?
  • The Quality Divide: Is Your Vendor Driving IME Excellence?
  • The Quality Divide: When and How to Request an IME?
  • April Clinic Calendars Are Available
  • MCN’s Client Portal Login Page is Changing

Archives

Footer


  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Quick Links

  • Services
  • Expertise
  • About MCN
  • Careers

Division Headquarters

MCN
1200 5th Ave., Ste. 650
Seattle, WA 98101

See all offices

Email Us

General Inquiries: info@mcn.com
Sales & Marketing: marketing@mcn.com

Call Us

206.343.6100
800.248.6269

© Copyright 2023 Mitchell International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap