Healthcare records are critical for providing quality medical services for every patient.

While each provider has systems in place for tracking and managing healthcare information, there are always times when patients need their records transferred in some capacity.

Whether a patient is requesting records for personal needs, medical records need to be sent to another healthcare provider, or an attorney is requesting patient records, it takes time to ensure they are secure, correct, and quickly delivered.

The ROI process isn’t going away. However, there are a lot of requirements for each request. Due to these requirements, every healthcare organization needs to have an efficient system to manage these requests (and their cost).

Time-Consuming Phases of the ROI Process

How much time is needed each time a patient or third-party provider sends a request? Your staff members not only need to keep up with the incoming phone calls, emails, and paperwork (plus the immediate needs of patients in your office), but it can also be an administrative distraction managing the constant request activity.

HIPAA has specific security and privacy guidelines for healthcare providers for delivering patient records. Here are the essential steps your team needs to follow every time a request is initiated:

• Initial Receipt and Recording: When the request is received, the request must be recorded, track the source, and verify the request legitimacy. These requests can come from the patient or a third-party such as another doctor, insurance provider, or attorney.
• Accessing Patient Information: Now, it’s time to pull the information using the patient’s medical number. Once the file is accessed, the protected health information (PHI) must be uploaded, reviewed, and prepared for delivery.
• Privacy and Security Steps: Sensitive patient information must be protected throughout the process – every page and image is meticulously reviewed. It’s critical to ensure you aren’t sending any PHI you aren’t authorized to release.
• Sending Patient Records: Now, it’s time to send the patient records to the requester. This process involves matching the request to the correct patient information, including birthdate and social security number. The records can then be delivered by snail mail or a secure digital platform.
• Completing the ROI Tracking: The request is now ready to be downloaded (if by snail mail, opened upon delivery) and is tracked through a detailed tracking system.

Although the steps above are only a snapshot of the process, they demonstrate the amount of time and detail required to process a request. The cost could be high for an organization when considering the software requirements, staff hours, and other resources necessary to follow this process.

Save Time and Money with your ROI Services

If you are looking for solutions to save time and money with your ROI process, consider using a trusted partner in the space – such as RecordQuest – to minimize your costs when processing records.

Realistically, outsourcing your ROI needs can save your healthcare organization significant money. Often, the out-of-pocket costs are minimal (or nothing), depending on how often and the types of records requested. The requester usually pays most fees associated with requesting records. And these fees are set by each state. As a result, your costs are reduced. This cost reduction is often unrecognized, but expenses like postage and printing can add up quickly.

With outsourcing ROI, you also benefit from reducing costs associated with administrative tasks. These tasks include hiring and managing staff, systems management, answering phone calls and emails, etc. By freeing up your office staff, they can focus on more productive tasks to take care of the daily activities in your healthcare clinic – like your patients’ health. Experience these benefits, and you’ll wonder why you didn’t make the change years ago!

At RecordQuest, we work hard to simplify the ROI process for healthcare providers and specialists all over the United States. If you are looking for a partner to trust, RecordQuest is your best choice – schedule a demo or discovery call today.