Exploring Electronic Medical Records
Online Services can simplify document retrieval.
By Kim Plonsky
Gathering medical records, a common chore for civil litigation paralegals, can be a time-consuming, cumbersome and multifaceted task. But electronically obtaining them (usually in Portable Document Format) reduces time spent handling paper documents, freeing the paralegal to work on other important assignments. Plus, several online specialty services that electronically obtain and provide medical records offer free subscriptions, charge only a nominal fee in addition to the cost of obtaining the records and offer extra services - often making them more cost-effective.
Getting the Most From Electronic Records
Besides the tedious reproduction and distribution of records, other considerations come into play in dealing with hard copy medical records, such as Bates numbering, indexing, and summarizing. These tasks require handling and rehandling the records, which often are voluminous. Electronically gathering medical records can simplify all of these tasks. For example, you can save e-records to your local computer or network server, to a disk or to a CD for ease of retrieval and distribution. Whenever the need arises, simply print as many copies as you need directly to your local or network printer without getting up from your desk, or save a few trees by distributing the records by e-mail. Another timesaver is electronically Bates numbering imaged medical records - performed by the records retrieval service or done yourself after you receive the e-records.
Making it a practice to copy electronic medical records to a separate file preserves the integrity of the original, certified records, allowing you to use them in any way you desire - such as to extract irrelevant or particularly relevant material, reorder pages for presentation in chronological or other order, add annotations and comments, or highlight significant material. Images of e-records also can be linked directly to many software programs, including CaseSoft's CaseMap, Case&Point by Corporate Legal Solutions, Dataflight Software Inc.'s Concordance, Needles by Chesapeak Interlink Ltd., Summation by Summation Legal Technologies and TrialWorks by Lawex Corp.
E-record images can even be hyperlinked in Microsoft Office products such as PowerPoint and Word. Another advantage of electronic medical records is the ability (with the full Adobe Acrobat program) to cut and paste snippets of text directly from the medical records, which comes in handy for preparing medical chronologies or summaries.
Now that you are convinced you must have electronic medical records delivery, let us take a look at a few of the online services and how to sign up for them. Although many online medical records services are available to serve the needs of specific states and the insurance and medical industries, the focus here will be on those that serve the legal community throughout the nation and beyond.
RapidRetrieve by Mediconnect
www.mediconnect.net
Based in Utah, MediConnect is one of the nation's largest online medical records providers. Records can be obtained from most U.S. health care providers, as well as other regions such as Canada and Puerto Rico.
MediConnect offers free subscriptions to RapidRetrieve, and the cost of records retrieval is nominal. For 100 pages of medical records, and billing records that are not linked to medical records, the price is $29.95, not including handling and service fees. Records can be provided in PDF, TIFF or MathCad formats. RapidRetrieve offers many helpful, value-added services and options for the legal professional, including:
• rush service ($10, plus shipping);
• affidavit or certification of records ($8.95, or $13.90 for an original signature);
• electronic page or Bates numbering ($5.95);
• indexing, which is the separation and labeling of records by category and chronological sequence ($19.95 for up to 100 pages, and 20 cents per page for more than 100 pages); and
• delivery of paper copies of records (11 cents per page, plus shipping).
A subscription to RapidRetrieve simply required submission of an online application with password and identification setup, followed by the completion of an authorization agreement for MediConnect to obtain copies of medical records on your behalf. Thereafter, you complete a detailed online request for records, then fax a printout of the request to MediConnect - along with the signed authorization that is compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 - and you are done. MediConnect even provides a blank HIPAA-compliant authorization for your use, if needed. When the records are received, the requester is notified by e-mail, with a link to the site to retrieve the records. MediConnect can fulfill requests within roughly 20 days; however, according to HIPAA law, providers have 30 days to provide requested records.
Keeping up with records requests is a breeze with MediConnect. You can log on to search records request, check the status of pending requests, and find which requests are in process, need further information or are closed. In most cases, MediConnect doesn't require prepayment and allows users to set a fee threshold. The user is contacted when a records request would exceed a preset amount for authorization.
Medical records can be obtained by type: medical, billing, X-ray, pathology, pharmacy, psychiatry or multiple combinations. The ability to also retrieve other types of records - autopsy, claims history, education, insurance, Medicaid, motor vehicle and much more - is a real boon, making RapidRetrieve a one-stop shop for most records retrieval needs of the legal professional. Also, records can be ordered for specific dates of service, such as the past two years, past five years or all dates of service.
Keais Records Service
www.keais.com
Based in Houston, Keais offers services similar to RapidRetrieve, but with the added capability of handling medical records subpoenas. It allows you to schedule a deposition of a medical records custodian, prepare the notice and conduct research for a $75 fee.
Keais has been in the business for 30 years, and offers a wide range of services, including the handling of medical records requests through authorizations for a $29 fee. Keais provides an online form for simultaneously submitting multiple requests for medical records, with the ability to send completed and signed medical release authorizations as file attachments.
There is no subscription cost to sign up with Keais. Simply fill out a brief online application and you will be issued an account within 48 hours. Keais also provides on-site copying of medical records and direct billing to clients. Additionally, records retrieval fees can be split among parties, and advanced payment for obtained medical records is not required.
For more information regarding the services available through Keais, call (800) 467-9181.
QuickView by Smart Document Solutions
www.smartdocumentsolutions.net
Based in Alpharetta, Ga., Smart Document Solutions' QuickView primarily differs from Mediconnect and Keais in that it only delivers requested medical records electronically, rather than allowing the user to place online orders.
Additionally, the company supplies only medical records from providers it has contracted with, which is somewhat limiting. However, the company is contracted with thousands of health care providers throughout the nation, and the cost for online delivery is only $1 per medical record. What is nice about QuickView is that once you have subscribed, if you place an order with one of the contracted providers, you simply receive an e-mail notification that your documents are available for download online. To sign up for QuickView, call (800) 367-1500 and request a membership application, which can be submitted via fax.
Whatever your medical records retrieval needs, there is a host of online services available to today's paralegal to automate and expedite this often tedious and time-consuming process. Sign up for one of these medical records solutions today or one in your local area, and experience firsthand the satisfaction of letting technology do most of the work for you.