5 Questions to ask your potential record retrieval provider

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Law firms and insurance companies rely heavily on records to effectively do their work. For example, to win a personal injury case, lawyers need to gather incident reports, medical records, and more documents to support their client’s claim. Insurers, on the other hand, use medical records to evaluate an applicant’s risk.

The problem is, record retrieval can eat up so much of your time. And if you’re not familiar with the procedures of each custodian, you’re likely to commit mistakes, which can result in significant, costly delays. That’s why many US law firms and insurance companies outsource this task to third parties.

But to truly benefit from outsourcing, you need to make sure that you choose the right records retrieval provider. Here are questions you can ask potential candidates to help you choose a reliable partner:

#1 What is your company’s core competency?
There are many vendors, such as investigators, legal nurses, and independent medical examination companies, that add record retrieval to their list of offerings. However, it’s better to partner with a provider whose core competency is record retrieval. That’s because obtaining documents is a detail-oriented task that demands full attention, dedicated resources, and expertise to be accomplished efficiently. So if you choose a vendor that only does record retrieval on the side, you probably won’t experience the level of service you hoped for.

#2 Is your staff knowledgeable?
There are various federal, state, and industry regulations (e.g., HIPAA) that govern the collection, storage, and transmission of different types of records. That’s why it’s important to ensure that your potential provider’s employees have a deep understanding of these. Otherwise, you run the risk of experiencing delays and paying noncompliance penalties.

To have a better idea about the skill level of the potential provider’s staff, inquire about the security and compliance procedures and internal training programs that they have in place.

#3 What is the cost per record retrieval?
Most record retrieval providers charge similar rates per record retrieval, so you should be wary of those who offer drastically low rates or massive discounts. The latter is likely compensating by providing subpar service.

Your potential provider should also be transparent about copying fees and other expenses per record retrieval. If they’re evasive or unclear about charges, then that’s a red flag.

#4 How soon can we get our records?
Ask potential providers about their turnaround time and compare that with your current one. If it’s taking your employees a month to retrieve medical records, then the provider you pick should be much faster than that. For instance, Record Retrieval Solutions has an average turnaround time of 12 days.

#5 What is your capacity for record retrieval?
You have to make sure that your provider can handle the volume of requests you expect. That’s why it’s important to find out the capacity of potential vendors. Look into how many staff members there are and what systems they have in place. But don’t automatically go with the provider with the most number of employees or advanced IT systems. Instead, use this information to get a better understanding of the efficiency of their workflows and their expertise. Also, ask them about their success rates and the metrics they use to measure success. These details will paint a more accurate picture of their capacity.

Record Retrieval Solutions helps law firms and insurance companies get records faster, and thus settle claims faster and with less risk. Get in touch with us today so you can reap the benefits of working with our reliable specialists.

Obtain your paperwork fast and hassle-free when you partner with Record Retrieval Solutions.

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About The Author

img Chuck Dart
Chuck Dart started in the record retrieval business three decades ago. As the industry evolved from analog to digital, he recognized an opportunity to create a single, simple online solution that standardizes the record request and retrieval process across the entire healthcare industry.

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