At a recent meeting the board of directors reviewed MedCo’s operations and the (unaudited) accounts for the year ended 31^st December 2023.  During that review the board took into account the estimated annual operating costs and capital expenditure for 2024, which included a programme to continue with the upgrade of our IT systems and implement a CRM system to improve efficiency – both of which will benefit MedCo Users.   The board then went on to consider the charging policy to commence on 6^th April 2024.

I.T. Upgrade

Our Technical refresh project will see a major upgrade to the platform on which the application is based and will add additional features and benefits.  Amongst other changes we will see the introduction of multi factor authentication,  APIs for authorised users and resolve access issues being experienced by users of Apple Mac devices.

CRM System

To help with customer service and support we intend to implement a new CRM/workflow tool that will bring benefit to deliver improved customer support experiences and bring efficiencies internally between committees.

Charging Policy Generally

For several years, and with only one recent exception, when setting annual fees for MROs the MedCo Board decided to abate fees for existing MROs if at all possible but charging the “full” fee for new ones.  Surplus funds were used to make up any shortfall in income compared to annual operating costs.

In addition to using surplus funds, savings made as a result of the transition of MedCo from its managed service provider meant that in 2022/2023 MRO fees were abated by 35%.  For the charging period 2023/2024 we made further savings and increased the abatement for MROs fees to 45%.

However, the MedCo board has decided that continuing to use surplus funds for such purposes is unstainable and has therefore decided to move to gradually increasing User fees with the intention of a “break even” point in the near future.

Charging Policy 2024/2025 

The current unabated fees will continue to apply for new MROs as follows:-

T1 MROs                                         £150,000

T2 MROs                                         £20,000

These fees will be abated by 40% for existing MRO renewals.

Fees for DMEs and IMEs will be increased by 5% and case data upload fees will be £25 per case in excess of 300 reports.

The new annual renewal registration fees for 2024/2025 are set out in full below

Annual Fees – User Type

T1 MRO                                          £90,000

T2 MRO                                          £12,000

DME                                                £525

IME                                                 £210

Formal notices will be sent out in due course.