Your staff or ROI vendor receives a legitimate request for John Smith’s medical record. This should trigger a straightforward response. Instead, one or more of the following scenarios might occur:
- Joe Smith’s record is sent instead of John’s
- John also is in your system as Johnny Smith
- Another record is sent for a John Smith who shares the same name, but a different birthday
- John had six encounters with your facility or office, yet gave consent for one
- The requestor complains because it’s been 14 days since the request was submitted
- The request gets lost amid hundreds or thousands of other incoming requests
When any of the above happens, the consequences can be dire, ranging from irate requestors to unnecessary delays in providing healthcare or even legal proceedings. These are just a few of the situations our team has listened to during conversations about outsourcing release of information (ROI) services.
All requestors are asking for is a patient’s medical record. ROI should be a clear-cut process, with each request fulfilled on time, accurately and professionally. So, exactly why does ROI feel so complicated for HIM directors, clinic owners and healthcare executives who are left to deal with the aftermath of endless complications? And, why does ROI become overwhelming for internal staff or vendors to manage well?
“Where is the Medical Record I Requested?”
How many times a day does your staff hear that question? Probably too many, especially if you’re paying an ROI vendor to handle that service. Your office or system receives multiple record requests an hour, and each one has critical ramifications to the requestor.
If ROI is managed in-house, you hear this question because everyone in a healthcare environment is overstretched and many departments are understaffed. Filing documents can understandably turn into a backlog quickly, documents get put in the wrong places, quality suffers, and a seemingly simple process can turn into endless complications.
If a vendor manages ROI, this question likely surfaces as a result of substandard QA and compliance checks (for example, QA is only performed on a small percentage of ROI transactions after the record was already released), understaffing issues leading to backlogs and long wait times, they only fulfill billable requests, or your system has outgrown the vendor – and eventually, apathy takes root because switching vendors is perceived as more hassle than it’s worth.
To Make ROI Easier for Everyone, We’ve Changed Three Things
1. No Delays
Being understaffed is an issue for you and many ROI vendors, leading to backlogs and unacceptably long turnaround times. Because turnaround time is so critical to patient care and outcomes, ScanSTAT commits to processing ROI requests within 24-48 hours of receipt and filing incoming faxes, scans, and direct messages same-day. As an added benefit, the efficiencies gained through outsourcing ROI generate an average 50% cost savings for our clients.
2. No Shortcuts
Every record should be QA’d before it’s sent to avoid an incorrect or incomplete record being released. As obvious as it sounds, not all vendors commit to this process. Because QA and compliance are paramount, ScanSTAT adheres to a rigorous QA process, never cutting corners with patient confidentiality, information security, or the medical release process. At ScanSTAT, 100% of records are QA’d before they’re released.
3. No Surprises
Because ROI can be such an opaque transaction, ScanSTAT is committed to giving clients and requestors much greater visibility into the process. We do not pre-bill requestors, and we process ALL billable and non-billable requests.
Learn more about ScanSTAT’s three ROI service options.
Onboarding a New ROI Vendor Doesn’t Have to be a Hassle
There’s a misconception in the industry that outsourcing your release of information process or changing ROI vendors is a hassle. Maybe vendors know this and become indifferent over a typical 3 to 5 year contract. Maybe your organization has grown and your vendor can’t or won’t scale up. The reasons aren’t as important as making a transition easier. That’s our take, so we ensure the process goes smoothly and stays that way with:
- Customized onboarding and project planning
- Agnostic technology that integrates with your EHR
- A dedicated support team of managers and operations staff
- AHIOS CRIS certifications and ongoing staff training
- Experience and capability to process health plan requests
- Superior ROI service with SLAs and KPIs that match your goals
ROI isn’t brain surgery. Does it really have to be so complicated?
Short answer: NO. Let’s schedule a time to talk about your biggest ROI complications and how ScanSTAT can make the process easier for everyone.