When you decide to outsource your firm’s medical record retrieval, there are a lot of options to choose from, and a lot of ways to decide which one to use. For many firms, price or contract terms are often their first, or only, considerations.
Choosing a medical records solution is about more than just price or contract terms. It’s also a question of how well it integrates with your workflow, how quickly they arrive, and whether they’re accurate. Performing a structured evaluation of the medical records retrieval services you’re considering can allow you to compare them and determine which one fits into your workflow most seamlessly.
Rob Levine founded Records On Time based on what his personal injury law firm needed and wasn’t able to get from the medical record retrieval services that he tried. Watch this video where he explains some of the essential criteria for choosing a medical records retrieval service. Then keep reading for more information on how to further evaluate different companies to find the best fit for your firm.
Assess Integration and Scalability
Look at how easily the vendor connects to your CMS, and how that connection facilitates the record retrieval. For example, with Records On Time, our integration allows you to request the records from your CMS and have the records, as well as all costs and expenses, delivered directly into your CMS. We then also notify the case manager when the records are delivered. Some services claim to integrate with your CMS, but in reality, they might only mean that you can click a button in your CMS to open their portal, have a single sign-on, or can import/export basic data. Understanding precisely what the vendor means by CMS integration can be crucial to finding the right service for your firm.
Next, test whether the service can handle a rising case volume without degrading. In other words, can they continue to provide the same level of service regardless of how many requests you submit? Being able to scale workflows and directly integrate with your existing systems will prevent disruptions and allow your staff to continue using the same tools they’re already familiar with as caseloads increase.
Look for platform features that enable tracking and secure delivery as well. For example, our integration with your CMS enables tracking and secure delivery. Whether you simply want an update on your request or are looking for the delivered records or confirming a cost, you’ll never have to leave your CMS, and the medical records are as secure as everything else in your CMS.
Verify Compliance and Security
Before doing anything else, verify that the medical records solution you are considering meets all compliance and security requirements. This includes HIPAA compliance and SOC 2 certifications. You should also look for robust audit trails, professional liability insurance, and review documentation of their security protocols. If they fall short in this area, do not move forward.
Because your firm and the medical record retrieval service handle protected health information (PHI), HIPAA classifies both as business associates and requires both to comply with its regulations. As a result, HIPAA requires both to follow its regulations. SOC 2 certification provides third-party confirmation that the service manages and protects your clients’ PHI properly. Without clear evidence of HIPAA compliance and being SOC 2 certified, your firm risks compromised cases, direct regulatory liability, and significant financial penalties.
Completeness and Accuracy as Part of Compliance and Security
Firms should continue to verify record completeness and accuracy by auditing timelines for chronological gaps, cross-referencing records with billing statements, and using provider mapping to account for every provider. Firms should also confirm that their third-party record retrieval service conducts its own completeness and accuracy review. Since they won’t have access to your timelines or billing statements, you should look for affidavits or Certificates of Authenticity from providers for records received. In cases where no records are found, the medical records retrieval service should request a Certificate of No Records as a formal sign-off that no records exist to confirm the lack of existing records instead of a mistake.
Run a Test Batch
Test each vendor with a small batch of cases. Track responsiveness, turnaround time, accuracy, and other details to compare how they perform. This provides concrete performance data to compare to the sales claims each vendor makes, and to compare each vendor to their competitors. It also helps you see how they handle the nuance of authorization hurdles, and different providers and case types.
Evaluate Responsiveness
Evaluate how quickly the vendor responds when problems arise. Consider how effectively they handle issues such as provider delays or authorization errors. Prompt and clear communication is essential to speedy and accurate medical record retrieval. If the vendor is unable to communicate effectively with providers or with your firm, it is unlikely they will be able to meet your needs.
Evaluate Workflow Impact
The speed with which the records are returned is important, but you also need to evaluate how the records are returned. If the vendor provides messy, disorganized, incorrect or unusable records, you don’t get much benefit from using them even if they could return those records within minutes of your request. The records they return should be for the correct individual, organized, labeled, and searchable, at a minimum. Additional services, like searchable chronologies or delivery directly into your CMS, should be considered if they are important to your firm.
Consider How AI-Assisted Legal Review and Summarization Tools May Play a Role
AI is reshaping the legal field, including medical records, and that means there may be some things you don’t need the vendor to do. Things like summarization, chronologies, medical record indexing, duplicate detection, OCR improvements, or medical timeline generation are all things that you may be looking to vendors to provide but can also be handled by AI. If you are not currently using AI, but plan to in the future, you may want to look for a vendor that offers such services as add-ons, so you can use them now and remove them later when you implement AI.
What criteria matter most when evaluating medical records retrieval services?
You might consider all of the criteria here and wonder, which ones matter most when evaluating retrieval services? Ultimately, the most important criteria will vary from firm to firm. A smaller firm with a tight budget may be willing to sacrifice speed for a lower cost, while larger firms attempting to scale may prefer to pay more for a service that can get them records quickly. Records On Time can provide both a lower cost and fast turnaround, giving firms an option that doesn’t require them to make a sacrifice.
How Do Medical Records Retrieval Services Pricing Models Compare?
Retrieval companies use different pricing models, including per-page, flat-rate, and subscription options. No pricing model is inherently the best, though often one is better for your firm’s needs. There are several other factors that play a role and should be considered in connection with pricing.
Are You Ready to Outsource Your Medical Record Retrieval?
As your caseload increases, case managers and paralegals will spend more time chasing down records. As they try to keep up with getting records, they’ll struggle to keep up with other tasks that require their expertise, like communicating with clients, preparing demand packages, and supporting attorneys as they build strong cases. Records retrieval is important, but it isn’t the reason case managers and paralegals were hired, and it shouldn’t be the reason their other responsibilities slip.
Choosing the right medical record retrieval services partner means firms can scale their caseload without scaling their administrative burden. The right service handles the follow-up calls, the provider pushback, and the status tracking, so staff can focus on the work that actually moves cases forward and serves clients well.
Records On Time was built to be that partner for personal injury law firms. With EHR integration, transparent pricing, and a team dedicated to getting records back quickly, firms can grow their caseload with confidence instead of falling behind.
Ready to see how Records On Time can support your firm? Contact us today for a demo or to learn more about how we can help your team get back to the work that matters most.
