How Long Does It Typically Take To Obtain Medical Records for Law Firms?

One of the most critical parts of any medical lawsuit are the medical records; but how long should you budget to wait to obtain the medical records? When it comes to dealing with winning a case, there’s no room for delays or missing documentation. Unfortunately, gathering all of these documents can be a time-consuming process, even if you have a dedicated team working on this project. 

Paying hourly for a paralegal or other professional to send in requested documents leaves room for delays and errors. However, utilizing a medical records retrieval system can significantly reduce your operational costs and the length of time it takes for your firm to receive the necessary medical documents. 

Personal Training to Obtain Medical Records

Before the medical record retrieval process begins, any individuals retrieving documentation need to be properly trained. Current in-house personnel or any new staff members needed for retrieval purposes will need training. The length of time it takes for training completion depends on how updated your staff is on current HIPAA regulations and how much time they’re able to dedicate towards training.

The personal training is necessary before any team members begin handling your client’s medical documentation. Once your team has gone through all of the necessary training, credentials need to be assigned to each staff member. If your team is working with digital records, unique sign-ins should be created for each user.This is to safeguard each client’s information from your team members as well. After all of this has been completed, documentation intake can begin. 

Intaking New Documentation

Typically, it can take up to six months to receive the necessary documents for a medical lawsuit. In some cases, it can take even longer. The length of time it takes to obtain medical records depends on several factors. How many providers need to be contacted, how responsive the medical providers are to these quests, how complete the medical documentation is, and if the medical treatment was completed or if it’s still ongoing. 

Often, staff time is wasted trying to track down medical records. Many healthcare providers aren’t responsive to these requests, causing delays in the retrieval process. Some providers don’t send over all of the requested information, which causes additional delays in the retrieval process. It can take several days of back-and-forth emails or phone calls to finally get one healthcare provider to release all of the required documentation. Securing the release for all records of your firm collections during the retrieval process can also take hours per document. 

The larger the medical case is, the more people will be involved in retrieving documentation. This results in higher operational costs, which get passed down to your clients. You can save your team the hassle of checking on the status of medical requests with the use of a medical records retrieval service. 

Organizing Medical Records

The retrieval process can be extended when there’s disorganization in the collection of the medical records. Sometimes, team members will re-request necessary documents, even though they’ve already been collected. A misorganized collection process can decrease collaboration, increase the chances of a HIPAA violation, and increase liability for any missed deadlines.

Quickly Obtain the Medical Records Your Firm Needs Today

American Retrieval cares about your firm, the success of your cases, and the satisfaction of your clients. That’s why we’re passionate about helping you find the best solution for your medical record retrieval needs. Our services provide more accurate and swifter retrievals due to our years of experience and streamlined systems. 

Contact us today to request a demo to learn how much faster American Retrieval can help you obtain medical records.