Medical record management is a challenge that every healthcare office faces.

Are you still handling medical record requests with your in-office staff? If so, you will likely face common pitfalls.

At some point, every doctor’s office, healthcare clinic, and other medical organization can benefit from finding an outsourced solution to help with releasing medical records. Here are a few signs letting you know it’s time to make a change:

Can’t Keep Up with the Backlog of Releases

Is your to-do list piled high because of a long list of releases waiting to be processed? It can be a trick to keep up with the paperwork and approvals. Often, these tasks fall to the back burner because your staff members are busy helping patients in the office or performing other time-sensitive tasks.

When you notice that the request backlog keeps getting bigger, it’s a sign that your current staff members can’t keep up with the demand, and you need help – immediately.

Difficulty Finding Staff Members

Labor shortages are affecting many industries, and healthcare is feeling the pinch. As a result, many medical offices find it difficult to hire enough staff members to keep up with the daily workload and responsibilities.

When you can’t find more staff members to hire, then the answer might be to outsource some of these office responsibilities instead. Outsourcing your ROI is a quick and efficient solution benefiting many organizations and decreasing the need for in-office employees.

Patients Always Calling for Records

How much time is spent answering the phone throughout the day, updating requesters on their request status? In-office request communication is time-consuming and inefficient, causing a burden on your staff.

If the phone keeps ringing and your team can’t keep up with the requests, it’s time to look for another solution. Did you know there are methods to request records without contacting the office and physically speaking to someone? There are. You can free up the phones and allow your front desk staff members to refocus their priorities on other office activities.

Increasing Administrative Costs

Another factor affecting your decision to get the release of information help is if your administrative costs are going up. Hiring additional staff members adds to the bottom line quickly.

It is best to protect your profit margins, which is why exploring other options is wise. In most situations, outsourcing medical record management is a fraction of the cost you would pay for in-office employees, additional office space, computers, and other staff-related expenses.

Difficulty in Training Staff

Even if you have staff members in the office who are available to manage your ROI process, there is an ongoing burden to ensure that the entire team is up-to-date on compliance and training. Are you relying on your staff to learn and understand updated HIPAA laws and other privacy requirements? If not, who is? When you have employees managing these responsibilities, it’s up to you to maintain an ongoing knowledge base. On the other hand, outsourced teams have built-in compliance staff and training systems, giving you full-service solutions that are always up-to-date.

Do you think it is time for a change? Let’s find out!