Category: industry

The population is aging fast. Government statistics estimate that by the year 2035, the number of age 65+ will outnumber under 18s. It’s good news because it shows advances in modern health provisions improve not just longevity, but quality of life too. With changing health needs come changing legal needs. Elder Law services are no longer a niche, practiced by specialist law firms, but mainstream.

 

What Is Elder Law?

It’s important to note that Elder Law is no longer defined by the firm, but by your clients. If you are increasingly finding demand for wills and legacies, specialist healthcare coverage, disability, and power of attorney, you practice Elder Law. If you are involved in cases of patient neglect, estate inheritance, and retirement preparation, you practice Elder Law.

 

How to Position Your Practice for Elder Law

Consider Courses and Certificates

There is now a range of certification programs for helping you improve Elder Law skills. Specifically, CLE resources help you improve your skills in this area. Once certified, you may advertise your business as having specific skills relating to Elder Law. Some provide access to referral networks to help funnel those potential clients.

 

Networking Events

At such events, you won’t just meet other lawyers. Elder Law is a growing area attracting medical professionals, care and nursing service professionals, accountants, practice managers and others. This is a great way to raise your profile among people who work with the elderly every day. Therefore, it’s a great way to seek potential new clients among the elderly and those who work with them.

 

Remain in Touch with Past Clients

This should be standard practice for any professional. Staying in touch with past clients, even through simple email marketing, keeps them mindful of your presence and services. As they get older, they will return to lawyer with whom they had past positive experiences. Nurturing past clients is cheaper than constantly reaching out to new clients.

 

Think About Extra Services

Extra services drive organic, less sales-minded people to your business.

• Drive traffic to your website through publishing informative and helpful written content for people to find
• Similarly, articles in local press or magazines targeted at your audience. Free advice is always welcome
• Offer regular free events offering simple advice, or get involved in non-professional community activity
• Create an informal environment to welcome seniors including wheelchair accessibility

All these increase your visibility and present a positive image of your firm.

 

Need Record Grabber to help with your medical record retrieval? Get started today!

Podcasts are a modern phenomenon of the web, and one of many popular media types for the modern consumer of information. They are digital files released as MP3 downloads for listening at leisure on a computer or mobile device. Not everybody likes to read a webpage and podcasts are useful to play during a commute into work. Here is Record Grabber’s recommended list of legal podcasts.

 

ABA Journal

The journal has not one but four podcasts covering a myriad of legal issues. These are: Modern Law Library (a discussion of legal theory featuring some top brains from the legal world), Law Student Podcast (about issues affecting schooling and students), Legal Rebels (about the trendsetters in law), and Asked & Answered (a Q&A podcast session)

Listen Here

Lawyer 2 Lawyer

This legal podcast looks at current events and the hot topics in the news. Each podcast features an expert from the industry to discuss those events from a legal perspective. It’s an award-winning podcast; recent subjects include gender discrimination in Biglaw, The Mueller Report, and parental rights in light of anti-vaccine movement.

Listen Here

 

Bloomberg Law Podcast

One of the world’s most famous providers of finance and law news, now it has its own podcast too. It regularly features both law academics and practitioners to discuss the current issues in the news. It particularly focuses on legal cases under public discussion, getting the information direct from analysts.

Listen Here

 

I am the Law

Most podcasts in this list focus on the big issues of the day, legal theory and precedent, and education. This seeks to dispel myths about the law and its practice, by inviting a professional lawyer on for each podcast. It’s less about current affairs and more about information dissemination.

Listen Here

 

Legal Talk Network

By professionals, for professionals, LTN invite host from the practice, organizations, and accreditation bodies to discuss the issues of the day across their 20 podcasts. The network is as thorough as it can be to provide a wide range of services to those who work in legal.

Listen Here

 

The Lawyerist Podcast

Where is the legal profession heading? That is the main question that TLP seeks to answer, rather than the issues of the day, it looks at how cases and legislation are changing the environment of the law profession.

Listen Here

 

The Filevine Fireside

Filevine is a Case Management Software package. Part of their public outreach is a publicly accessible blog which regularly features a downloadable podcast. Like many other top podcasts, it covers the legal issues of the day, but also content aimed at students and even the public.

Listen Here

 

Read more blog posts on the Record Grabber blog!

Every day, business leaders in legal and insurance ask one question. That question is: why outsource record retrieval out when we can do it in-house? But as proven repeatedly, sometimes they should switch around the elements in that question. Instead, they should ask “why attempt to do this in house when we can save money and resources by outsourcing?”

 

Why Not Outsource?

There are many areas where you already outsource. Unless you are a large business, you likely contract the services of third-party accountants rather than in-house accountants. Similarly, you may also outsource your bookkeeping and payroll to third-party specialists. You do so because they are qualified professionals and experts in their field.

When paying a contractor to do work, a business is not paying for the contractor to carry out only that task, they also pay for the years of experience. The same applies to record retrieval. A specialist company like Record Grabber represents immediate cost savings. At the same time, you are hiring years of experience in our field, an organization keeping up with the constant change of data protection and storage protocols.

 

Why Outsource to a Paralegal?

There is a tendency in the legal profession to outsource record retrieval and storage. Most commonly legal experts hire paralegals to save cost. While these paralegals do a good job, they are not specialists in the field of record retrieval and storage. There may be situations where the risks of using non-specialists to save money outweigh the benefits.

In our expert view, this is risky. We would advise contracting to a professional, expert, qualified, experienced record retrieval and storage firm every time.

 

Outsourcing is Common Practice

Professional athletes hire accountants and finance experts to manage their funds so they can focus on being a professional athlete. Similarly, IT service people who need to move hardware between locations hire professional couriers. Most law firms use third-party case management systems because the financial and resource cost of in-house development is prohibitive.

The burden of keeping on top of records and the ever-changing world of legal requirements can detract you from your business. Outsourcing something as complex as record retrieval and storage will relieve your employees of the burden. It then permits you to work on getting clients through the door to help them win cases and build or maintain your already impressive legal reputation.

 

Ready to start saving time and money? Make your commitment free Record Grabber account today!

If your organization has recently decided to outsource your record retrieval and storage, congratulations. It’s the first step to freeing up time and resources and noticing real long-term cost savings. You will find a lot of choice, but not all record retrieval and storage services are the same. This is the level of service you can expect from Record Grabber.

 

A Fast Turnaround

For cases to progress smoothly you need as fast a turnaround as possible. Few other service providers can boast Record Grabber’s high turnaround of 80% retrieval in under 30 days. There are rare instances where this takes longer, usually due to complications. We do our best to expedite the record retrieval process when requests are received to ensure fast turn around.

 

A Transparent Service

At Record Grabber, we pride ourselves on transparency from beginning to end. All notes relating to a request are always visible to the client. Therefore, you are not left in the dark on progress and there is no guesswork on your part or need to waste time on the phone. Also, we do not charge you until records are received. No hidden charges, we aim for cost transparency.

 

Ease of Communication

Did you find your current or previous record retrieval service difficult to communicate with? Were they slow to reply and each time it was from different people? That is not how Record Grabber works. You will have a dedicated Account Manager aware of the finer details of your case. We also provide a website chat feature and a direct line phone number. What’s more, you have 24/7 access to your client portal and the information is never deleted.

 

Chronology Services

Record Grabber is not just a record retrieval and storage solution. We offer a range of services to medical and legal professionals. Two types of document you might require in a case include the medical chronology and the medical summary. Record Grabber offers both types of record and service if needed.

 

Integrations

Does your organization use common legal and medical packaged such as PP and Clio? Our service offers full integrations with both. Therefore, you will not experience the problems associated with packages that do not work together. We aim to deliver a simple and easy to use service, taking the stress out of the basic technological functions of the working processes.

The best part of it all is we don’t have our customers sign contracts. We don’t require a monthly minimum number of requests. We don’t charge any start-up fees!

Use Record Grabber as much as you want, whenever you want! Get started here.

The Record Grabber portal is receiving a facelift. With a little feedback and some ideas of our own, the Record Grabber portal has been made easier than ever! Keep reading to learn more about added features and how it has been reorganized.

The Dashboard

When you first sign into the Record Grabber portal, you see your Dashboard. This page now has easier access to all your requests (no more archived requests, they’re all here!), better filtering, and an added search feature.

 

Billing Analysis

Our new Billing Analysis service takes all of your client’s medical bills and makes a single easy to read spreadsheet. This allows you to see everything you need to know about the bills all in one place and save hours sorting through bills. View sample here.

View Client Page

Another awesome new feature is the updated client page. You can easily manage client requests from their individual client page. To achieve this, we have added an Overview section at the top of the page to quickly see what requests have been made. You can easily make requests from this section. A table breaks down the individual requests that have been made for that client at the bottom of the page.

 

Reorganized Sidebar

We’ve done some reorganizing on the left-hand sidebar to make life a little easier. In doing so, all requests can be made from easily clicking one of the buttons at the top. The Client Tools section contains all things relating to your clients and their requests. The My Account section holds all things related to your account (your profile, preferences, sub-users, billing, and integrations). Our added Resources section has useful tools for anything having to do with the Record Grabber portal (training, demos, common questions, HIPAA authorization form).

Overall Easier Functionality

In conclusion, streamlining the Record Grabber portal has maximized efficiency. With better organization, the portal is now overall easier to navigate through. The main goal was to make it easier to sort and organize requests. The reorganized Dashboard and updated Client page have accomplished this.

 

Want to learn more? Check out the demo!

Quite often attorneys, paralegals, and office managers tell us, “We handle our records in house,” not even giving a second thought to the actual financial cost that comes with this. The typical response is not to stop and think, “How much is handling our record retrieval in house costing us?” We’re here to tell you, outsourcing record retrieval really pays off!

Time is the biggest resource that is being wasted. As an attorney, you can charge $200, $300, $500 or even $1,000 an hour for your services. Your time that is scheduled with clients and spent working on their cases is money for you. Why are you spending time calling a hospital to sit on hold for ten minutes, just to find out that you have to resend your original request because you sent it to the wrong place the first time? At this point, you assign the record retrieval tasks to your paralegals or office managers. Let’s breakdown this best-case scenario of retrieving records and billing statements:

 

In House Record Retrieval

Processing Paperwork for Request	15 minutes
Faxing or Mailing Paperwork	20 minutes
Follow Up with the Provider (3 follow-ups at 10 minutes per follow up)	30 minutes
Paying & Tracking the Invoice	15 minutes
Reviewing & Scanning Records	30 minutes
Total	1 hour 50 minutes
Legal Assistant US Avg: $15.30/hour	$28.05
Taxes, Equipment, Operating, Insurance, Benefits: 30%	$8.42
Total	$36.47

 

This is a best-case scenario of how the entire process plays out and the actual time your staff spends on getting records from the provider. Mind you, this is the best case scenario. What happens if the request is lost by the provider? Documents are incorrect? The provider takes 10 phone calls before they will send the records? Let’s take a look at additional tasks and issues that arise that can take up hours of time:

 

Tasks Requiring Additional Time

Re-submitting a Request	10 minutes	$2.55
Resending Paperwork	10 minutes	$2.55
Each Additional Follow Up	10 minutes	$2.55
Receive Wrong Records Reach Back Out to Get Corrected	30 minutes	$7.65
Affidavit (filling out, quality checking, etc)	30 minutes	$7.65
Setting Up Courier Service	30 minutes	$7.65
Coordinating Courier Service (average 3 visits to provider)	60 minutes	$15.30

 

If you have to re-submit the request, have 6 extra follow up calls, and have to reach back out to get an affidavit corrected you’ve just added $26 of expenses. By using Record Grabber, all tasks having to do with managing the retrieval process fall on us. The only tasks needed to be done by the firm are submitting the request and providing us with any necessary documents. Easy as that!

 

Outsourcing Record Retrieval

Submit Request to Record Grabber	1 minute
Download Records from Portal	1 minute
Total	2 minutes
Legal Assistant US Avg: $15.30	$1.00
Taxes, Equipment, Operating, Insurance, Benefits: 30%	$0.30
Record Grabber Fee	$35.00
Total	$36.30

 

At $36.47 best case retrieving records on your own versus $36.30 if outsourcing through Record Grabber, why waste the time? Not only are your labor costs incredibly high, your turnaround time for getting records to closing your cases increase. What would closing all of your cases out 3 or 4 weeks earlier for your firm do? Not only will your clients be happy that their case is closed faster, but you also get paid faster and receive the money back that you likely fronted for their case.

Have happy clients, save time, get paid faster, handle more cases: all of these are benefits of outsourcing your record retrieval. Why is your firm still handling your record retrieval in house?

What are you waiting for!? Get started saving time and money with Record Grabber today.

 

Source: https://www.indeed.com/salaries/Legal-Assistant-Salaries

Medical record storage and retrieval are not the most exciting of subjects. However, it is a necessity. To an outsider, any single provider may be just like any other. But that minimizes the value of a provider’s unique services to their clients. Here at Record Grabber, we are focused strongly on providing a good service that customers can rely on time and time again.

 

The Personal Service

We understand that professional healthcare organizations require an element of the personal. When things go wrong, or when you encounter a difficult issue, you need to know that you can rely on your provider not just to treat you as another cog in the machine. You need a service that will treat your case, your issue, your unique difficulties with the individual concern that it deserves for quick resolution. The more attentive your provider, a faster resolution is more likely.

 

Unusual Record Types

Some services offer access to and storage of medical records in line with HIPAA. The problem is that this is all they offer. Thankfully, we understand that clients just like you often need diverse and unusual records, the types of information that do not always come as standard. For a complete knowledge base and a proper resolution, you’ll need access to more than medical records for an impending court case: cellphone records, police reports, employment history and insurance details.

 

Chronologies & Summaries

Sometimes, all you need is a quick list of the key points such as those contained in a chronology (a timeline of important events) or a summary (a brief report – no more than a few pages, listing the most pertinent details). You do not have the time or the inclination sort through hundreds of documents. Rest assured that any time you need a Medical Summary or a Medical Chronology, Record Grabber can provide one.

 

Eternal Storage

Your records remain in our database forever. That saves time and effort in searching for records, and peace of mind they’ll be there when you need them. We destroy physical records when they are no longer needed, and based on HIPAA guidelines. Sometimes, a case can resurrect years after a resolution. Our solution takes care of this, so you need not worry about whether a record has run its course.

 

Try us out! Get started with Record Grabber today.

Business is complex and few industries are as complex as legal. In order to remain competitive, it’s important to work out your cost of service carefully and bill accordingly. You may have considered whether the cost of record storage and retrieval outsourcing is a passable expense. The short answer is that yes, it is. But let Record Grabber elaborate further.

 

What is a Passable Expense?

Legal business services always have flexible costs associated with them. You are entitled to bill your client for some services. There are two types of cost that you may bill:

• Hard Costs: the costs of your expertise, knowledge and skills that form part of a standard costing
• Soft Costs: the associated costs of employees’ other work such as research and data capture

These soft costs have a name – “passable expense”. Your practice may not be aware that outsourcing is a passable expense. By using Record Grabber’s services for record retrieval and storage, the costs you incur as part of our service may be billed along with your other services, to your client(s).

 

What is Not a Passable Expense?

A passable expense is one that a service provider may include when billing a client; it is applicable against individual and specific cases. The costs associated with storing and maintaining electronic records stored on your server or network, however, are not passable. These are typical office expenses considered part of your day-to-day business operations. Any costs should be claimed against your revenue to calculate your taxable profit. Outsourcing is a passable cost, but in-house record retrieval is not.

 

The Dilemma of How and When to Pass an Expense

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct from the ABA states how professionals ought to record and recover their passable expenses such as record access. Specifically, this centers on full disclosure of when and how a new cost is being recorded and billed. If this is confusing, then perhaps Record Grabber’s outsourced record retrieval and storage service is the ideal solution for your medical legal practice. Passing on the cost is easy. We break our billing down in simple and practical terms. You can bill your client for these costs because it’s a hard cost rather than a soft cost. You’ll never need to calculate percentages because all costs are associated with a specific case.

 

Are you ready to try out Record Grabber? Get started here!

In this complex legal world, we know the importance of retrieving records quickly. You are part of a wide network of professionals each requiring information. Sometimes that information is urgent due to pending court cases. Perhaps one of the reasons you’ve not yet outsourced your record retrieval and storage is concern over speed or efficiency. These are misconceptions that Record Grabber hopes to challenge here. Let us assure you that of Record Grabber’s professionalism, diligence, and commitment to a smooth and efficient process.

80% Records Retrieved in Under 30 Days

That’s right. Typically, you can expect an average turnaround of about 30 days. It must be noted however that we receive around 80% of records in less time than that. We always aim to hit this target, earlier if possible and where possible. If a turnaround works out longer than this, it’s usually down to elements beyond our control. We may require further information from you, or the information we have provided is incomplete. Also, we may be waiting for authorization in line with our legal requirements. Nevertheless, we strive to improve turnaround times.

3 Weeks Isn’t Unusual

There are always outliers that are way beyond the expected 30 days. But these outliers are rare. When we eliminate these outliers – those where we need additional information supplied or from uncooperative providers, we’re confident we can deliver faster. Many of our clients enjoy a fast turnaround of 21 days, sometimes less. In the legal world, it’s vital that we get it right. 3 weeks is considered a quick response due to legal technicalities and case complexities. Unfortunately, uncooperative providers are a fact of life in this industry and these take longer to process.

Record Grabber’s Commitment to Diligence

We could be tempted to simply close out difficult requests to improve our turnaround time. After all, it would make Record Grabber look good to simply focus on being faster than everybody else. Record Grabber has a commitment to diligence and upholding a reputation as a thorough provider of record retrieval and storage. We retrieve 99.99% of requested records.

 

Record Grabber gets you the records you need when you need them. There are always requests that take longer than hoped for to retrieve but 80% of records are retrieved in the first 30 days. Make your free Record Grabber account today!

Technology is one of the fastest growing areas of the legal industry thanks to Cloud storage, always-on internet, and other technologies. Legal is not the first industry that comes to mind when considering the most prominent businesses on the web. Yet the following organizations are well-known in the legal tech world.

 

Relativity

Relativity produces technology that aids the legal process using new developments in artificial intelligence. The company’s services enable far easier support to litigation and legal investigations in many industries. In the last year, they received a lot of investment to expand services into storage and indexing of legal documentation and reviewing contracts. What’s more, the technology is open source platform which means developers can build on the code to adapt to their unique needs.

 

DocuSign

One of the top businesses to receive investment in 2018, it’s hard not to see why. The legal industry sometimes needs to work across borders when handling cases and that means signing off documents. But what happens when a client or a litigant is on the other side of the world? Mail isn’t fast enough, but there is nothing faster than esignatures. DocuSign is a legally recognized digital signature service used all over the world.

 

Everlaw

Founded in 2011, Everlaw filled a gap in the digital market for managing and organizing litigation. It’s now the most popular management platforms for law firms. Main customers include District Attorneys in the area of ediscovery and a wide variety of health legal professionals. It has grown year on year through its accessibility, ease of use, and providing access to an electronic world that was arguably slow to take up web services.

 

Apttus

Apttus has almost single-handedly revolutionized how we execute legal processes since it’s foundation in 2006. Their success is so great that it’s recently become part of the Salesforce family. This means the platform is scalable with solutions in the Salesforce Community arising quickly from any issues. Removing the requirement for having lawyers at every stage, it’s a quote-to-cash solution that speeds up legal cases.

 

Atrium

The brainchild of the Justin Kan, one of the founders of Twitch and Y Combinator, and Augie Rakow, a law firm partner in Silicon Valley. The pair founded the company in 2017 with the aim of becoming the country’s largest multi-practice firm. Presently in a tech development stage to speed up the legal process, it has many well-known investors. It hasn’t been trading long but it’s already one of the most heavily invested legal businesses in the US.

 

Read more on the blog: Top BusinessTools for Legal Professionals