DOT Medical Certification Just Went Digital: Are You Submitting Exams Correctly?
As of June 23, 2025, the FMCSA officially launched its digital-only medical certification process for DOT physical exams. If you’re a certified medical examiner (CME), this means one thing:
You are now required to submit exam results electronically—no more paper certificates.
This update, part of the National Registry Integration Initiative (NRII), affects every examiner actively conducting DOT physicals. If you’re still using older methods, you may already be out of compliance.
What’s Changed – At a Glance:
- All exam results must be submitted digitally through FMCSA’s Medical Examiner portal
- State licensing agencies receive results automatically—no need to hand drivers a medical card
- You have 24 hours to submit exam data after completing the physical
- A temporary grace period allows paper forms only until October 12, 2025
What This Means for NRCME Plus Customers
If you trained using Oakstone’s NRCME Plus, here’s how this affects you:
- Your exam certification knowledge is still valid – but the process has changed.
- You now need to log in and submit digital forms after each exam
- If you haven’t already, get familiar with the FMCSA’s submission platform:
- Make sure your login credentials for the ME Portal are working
- Ensure your device is secure and compatible
- Double-check driver data before submitting (especially license numbers & DOB)
Final Reminders
- Digital submission is required as of June 23, 2025
- Paper certificates are only valid until October 12, 2025
- Submissions must happen within 24 hours of the exam
If you're already submitting digitally—great! If not, now’s the time to update your workflow.
Update as of August 19, 2025: NRCME Training Systems advises examiners to continue issuing driver certificates. Some states are still resolving technical issues with their reporting systems, and we want to ensure drivers are not stopped by law enforcement due to missing exam records in the trooper’s mobile database. We anticipate these issues will be resolved by October 2025.