What Is the Medical Record Retrieval Process?

The medical record retrieval process isn’t easy, especially if you have a team manually retrieving records. However, with the use of a record retrieval service, your agency can significantly cut down on the length of time it takes to retrieve records and how much your agency is spending on records retrieval. In addition, becoming aware of the entire process can allow your team to better prepare for a large influx of clients or whenever you’re short staffed.

How to Get the Medical Record Retrieval Process Started

The medical record retrieval process can be made tricky because of the HIPAA privacy laws. These laws were created to protect the private medical information of patients.

The first steps in the record retrieval process are started by the customer. They’ll need to reach out to let you know they want you to obtain copies of their medical records. Before your agency can begin searching for those records, the patient will need to fill out the necessary forms and sign a HIPAA-compliant release form to grant you access to their medical documentation. 

Your Next Steps

Once your agency has received this from the patient, the next steps can be taken. When you’re working with a record retrieval service like American Retrieval, you’ll go into a HIPAA complaint portal and enter in the patient’s information. There’s only a few pieces of information needed to start the request. American Retrieval has a database with over 200,000 providers located all over the nation. You’ll be able to pick the provider you’re requesting records from, send the request out, and our record retrieval service will take care of the rest.

American Retrieval will call, follow up, and ensure the facilities are processing the order as quickly as they possibly can. Depending on the medical facility, it may take a few days to receive a response. American Retrieval will take care of all of the back-and-forth it usually takes to receive any documentation from a medical provider. 

All records you receive back will be sent back to your agency cleanly via electronic format. This way, you can focus on helping your patient, instead of worrying about managing the retrieval process. 

Finishing Up the Retrieval 

As digital technology advances, physical copies of medical records are becoming less common. American Retrieval uses a HIPAA complaint portal to upload, save, and store all of your patient’s medical documentation. If there’s ever a time where you need to re-access the original files, all you have to do is log back into our portal. We store any and all medical records indefinitely, so you’ll always have our portal to rely on. This is a huge time and money saver, as it eliminates the need for your agency to restart the retrieval process in the event any original records are lost. 

Once all the documentation has been uploaded to the portal, your firm will be notified that the record request is completed. You’ll be able to log into the portal and retrieve all the records you’ve requested. 

Get Started With Medical Record Retrieval Process Today

Retrieving medical records is a cumbersome task that can take a huge chunk of your company’s financial resources and time. Using a medical record retrieval company allows your agency to cut down on time spent looking for medical data, freeing up your team’s time to dedicate to other tasks. 

With American Retrieval, we care about the privacy of your patient’s records. You can be certain your customer’s confidential information is secure with our HIPAA compliant portal. Contact us today to learn how we can improve your current medical record retrieval process.