Electronic medical records (EMRs) retrieval has been an arduous, yet vital task for litigators and insurance companies. But it no longer has to involve rifling through stacks of records in dusty filing cabinets and relying entirely on cumbersome delivery processes.
For decades, medical records retrieval was a long and time-consuming task that caused backlogs of work for litigators, insurers, and others. But in 2009, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) act was ratified in an attempt to simplify and streamline the process in accordance with privacy and security controls.
Retrieving medical records when putting together a case has always been a laborious task, with requests typically taking up to a month to complete. It can get costly too, not just because you usually have to pay for each record, but also because it can take multiple working hours to prepare and submit requests, as well as track progress.
You need all the time you can get to put together a compelling case, but if a lot of that time is being spent on retrieving important documents, then it won’t take long before the costs start piling up and delays become a part of the process. Retrieving medical records has traditionally been one of the most time-consuming steps of all, partly due to compliance processes and a lack of standardization and completeness with many records.
Whether insurance providers need to request medical records to support claims or attorneys need official records to put together a legal case, records retrieval has traditionally been a cumbersome and time-consuming task.
It’s something that in-house teams often struggle with, particularly in the case of smaller businesses that might not have a department dedicated to the task.
Medical records retrieval is a vital process for healthcare providers and insurance companies, but it’s something that takes a fair bit of time due to the sensitive nature of the information involved. That’s why it’s so important to have a clearly defined plan for requesting and managing records retrievals, which includes full end-to-end processing and auditing.
Medical records retrieval can be a time-consuming task fraught with potential pitfalls such as breaches of compliance and lengthy delays. It’s also a critical function for insurance and legal firms, which rely heavily on their abilities to settle claims quickly.
Patient health records (PHI) are highly valuable to cybercriminals bent on reselling stolen data on the dark web or committing identity theft. On top of that, they also contain sensitive information which is subject to stringent privacy regulations. Healthcare providers and any associates handling PHI on their behalf must therefore adhere to the rules of the HIPAA regulation.
One of the most common requests we receive is to retrieve medical records from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Requests typically come from attorneys who are filing personal injury or medical malpractice lawsuits. We also receive requests from attorneys who are defending insurance companies named in the same types of lawsuits.
You’ve got enough on your plate. Too much, really.
Yet, you still occasionally hear the rumblings of a legal technology revolution in progress.
Somewhere, out there, the wide world of legal technology continues to advance at a rapid pace.