Accessing the Medical Record Retrieval Powertrain

A Juggernaut of a Headache

What’s not to love about modern medical record retrieval? All those forms to fill out. All those hospital gatekeepers to cajole just to get to the administrators who hold those medical records hostage.

Then of course, there’s starting the process and your client supplying you with inaccurate or incomplete information and documentation on their authorization just to add to the mix, sending you to that bottle in the bottom drawer of your desk or to the Advil if the bottle is empty.

We all know the healthcare industry is an immense juggernaut powered by providers and patients. Medical records and associated documents log the juggernaut’s immense powertrain. Without accurate patient data on treatments and personal wellness, chaos ensues even though this immense powertrain plows on.

Moreover, accurate data are not guaranteed with all the additional work required to handle HIPPA compliant private health information. A single keystroke or dyslexia at any point in the process can stymie a request for medical records and send you back to square one. The legal process is long enough to begin without the added hassles of going through the chain of health professionals, repeatedly. What client wants to hear all those reasons and legitimate excuses delaying the resolution of their case? And, what about your practice? Word of mouth referrals are an important factor to a successful practice and those legitimate delays could be perceived as incompetence or milking the client on your part. If the client is angered over delays, it’s safe to assume in our social media driven age, your practice will suffer.

The Best Option

So to free your practice from this quicksand of medical record retrieval, why not seek assistance from a third party business associate or better yet, partner with one. Third party associates perform a variety of functions while gathering medical records.

• – Follow up with providers

• – Pay invoices

• – Review all documents

• – Organize all documents

• – Digitze all documents

• – Store all documents

A third party partner has established relationships with health professionals and because they are not a legal practice that the health provider’s staff may view as an adversary, gathering those records goes smoother.

And then there’s the technology and changes in the health industry or changes in procedures by individual healthcare providers. Not every practice is in the position to purchase or subscribe to the latest technologies that are ancillary to the practice’s core requirements. Nor are they able to keep up on the current state of the healthcare industry. Even for those practices that can afford these technologies, they are not cost effective and negatively impact a practice’s ROI as would a dedicated staff to follow the industry. Whereas that third party associate or partner, whose sole purpose is to request and gather documents and medical records, at the very least will have the latest technology or have their own proprietary technology and would be current on any changes no matter how insignificant.

Outsourcing and/or partnering with a third party that’s as dedicated to their practice as you are to yours will eliminate most if not all those delays and legitimate excuses associated with document gathering. With that extra time saved, you’ll be able to increase your client base or get in a few more rounds of golf. What could be finer than receiving glowing reviews by word of mouth and on social media about your speedy, excellent, reasonably priced service from your former and current clients?