You worked hard as a healthcare provider and you’re ready to enjoy retirement. However, you have an ongoing responsibility to maintain your patient’s health records, which is not only a huge distraction but could cost you a fortune. If you fail to properly archive medical records and make them available to former patients, attorneys and insurance companies, you could end up with a HIPAA violation that leads to expensive fines and plenty of unwanted notoriety.
SIS NW offers healthcare professionals a medical records storage and management solution that is both reliable and affordable. Reduce your medical records management liability with our proven system that addresses the specific needs of healthcare providers. We can also help develop solutions for retiring physicians by converting or exporting electronic medical records systems at an affordable price, so you do not have to continue to pay fees for keeping your EMR active.
Medical records storage – Medical records management
• SIS NW reduces HIPAA risk by assuming custodianship of all provider records
• Most medical document storage is handled electronically so record requests are fulfilled faster and more efficiently
• Archiving medical records requires only one payment so you’re protected from future rising storage costs
• Your medical records storage with SIS NW is entirely secure in our electronic, HIPAA compliant repository.
• SIS will store and manage your patient files while you get on with your life
Providing copies of patient medical records to relevant parties is a risk burden that can quickly become financially cumbersome. Not only is medical records management expensive, if it’s not handled properly you could be fined and lose your hard-earned patient trust. Collecting revenue for supplying copies of medical records is also tricky because of the variable nature of rate structures.
Why deal with the many hassles of medical records storage when you can simply hire the professionals at SIS NW to handle it for you? Our proven solutions set us apart from other medical records storage companies; contact us today and find out how we can make your life easier.
Medical records management that reduces HIPAA risk
The hidden costs associated with medical document storage are well known. However, SIS NW’s ROI+ medical records delivery solution dramatically reduces HIPAA risk. Whenever possible, records are delivered through our secure encrypted portal after verifying the validity of the request. All activity within the system is tracked and a request log is automatically created.
• Automatically calculates the maximum billable amount for each medical record request
• Automatically generates an invoice for the requester
• Creates required HIPAA disclosure log
• Maintains all document release data for 7 years, as required by HIPAA
You are free from the overwhelming burden associated with archiving medical records, including the elimination of paper and reduced costs related to toner, paper, postage fees, and copy machine degradation.
Medical Records Management – The benefits of ROI+ from SIS NW
If you would like more details concerning the many benefits of medical records storage with SIS NW, contact one of our agents for a free consultation. In the meantime, consider the many ways that this revolutionary medical records management system will help you eliminate worry while saving money:
• Requests for medical records are fulfilled in a timely manner
• Deliver records electronically; stop making cumbersome paper copies
• Extensive reporting capabilities for documenting all releases
Information about the medical records storage experts at SIS NW
SIS NW (Spectrum Information Services NW, Inc.) was founded in 2008 for the purpose of providing medical records management solutions for healthcare providers. We work diligently to understand the unique needs of our clients while providing reliable and unwavering service.
By acknowledging your challenges and working to understand them, we will develop a solution that meets your needs while working within your budget. When it comes to medical document storage, cookie-cutter solutions seldom work because every healthcare provider has unique issues that must be addressed.
With more than a hundred years of combined experience, our medical records management team has the experience needed to help you solve problems and remain HIPAA compliant. We will help you solve your storage issues when you retire, whether exporting charts from an EMR or converting paper records into electronic files.
We offer a free consultation so contact one of our agents today for more information about eliminating the worry and hassle from your life so your retirement can be worry-free.
Some providers choose to keep their patient records in their home or in a public storage unit. Both of these options are fraught with risk. Should the storage unit or the physician’s home be broken into, smart thieves will instantly recognize the value of the medical records for identity theft. The value of medical records to identity thieves is more than an order of magnitude in comparison to credit card numbers. Your patient’s files typically contain all the information needed to falsely obtain credit or gain access to narcotics. The physician may be liable for both HIPAA fines and civil and/or criminal penalties as well as irrevocable damage to their reputation.
Another option for consideration is transferring the records to a secure storage facility. In most cases, the staff of these facilities are not trained medical records staff and will not know the regulations regarding release of medical records. There are many items, including mental health history and information about substance abuse or STDs that cannot be released without the patient’s express written consent. Release of this information puts the provider at risk for potential civil, criminal, and HIPAA penalties. This leaves the physician or their survivors should they pass away before the required period of maintaining the records responsible for ordering patient records from the storage facility and providing them to authorized requestors. This process is subject to the same release requirements as that of an active medical practice. It’s entirely likely that the physician does not know all of the requirements because this process had always been handled by a trained medical records staff. It’s also likely that storage costs will continue to rise for the duration the records are held at the storage facility and each request may cost in excess of $100 when the costs for pulling the file, transportation, copying, and returning the file to storage are factored in.
SIS NW can also assist hospitals and medical practices that are acquiring practices. When the hospital or acquiring practice has standardized on an electronic medical records platform, the last thing they want to deal with is supporting another platform that came with the acquisition. Training staff, paying software support fees, and managing additional servers all place additional burdens on your staff and information management resources. There’s also the challenge of managing a patient’s care when their medical history may be contained in two repositories. We can convert patient records from the EMR that came with the acquisition to eliminate the costs associated with supporting the old system and the risks associated with having multiple repositories.
There are obviously countless benefits from archiving medical records, but personal protection from HIPAA violations may prevent costly fines or jail time. A stolen laptop can place confidential patient data into the hands of unscrupulous criminals, and this problem is far more prevalent than many physicians realize.
Medical record storage companies secure this information far better than any laptop. In fact, a 2011 study indicated that stolen laptops accounted for 1 out of every 5 incidents of compromised patient data. This means that accidentally leaving a laptop in your trunk could result in fines that will leave you gasping for air.
Medscape.com reported an incident in 2010 where a member of a group medical practice had an unencrypted laptop stolen while giving a lecture in South Korea. Even though the practice announced the theft and there was no evidence to suggest data was compromised, the Department of Health and Human Services still found them negligent and careless with data.
This ultimately resulted in a $1.5 million settlement for “potential” HIPAA violations. If you consider how laptops and mobile devices are commonly used by medical professionals to work on the go, then you understand the risks posed by neglecting proper medical document storage.
Inadequate medical record storage can have serious consequences. Protect yourself with help from SIS NW
Take a quick look at current breaches of unsecured protected health information cases currently under investigation by the US Department of Health and Human Services and you will quickly ascertain that every health provider must take steps to protect their own interests. Protecting the integrity of your patient’s records doesn’t stop at retirement, so if you are currently storing data in a way that could be compromised it’s vital that you contact one of specialists today.
Failure to meet your HIPAA responsibilities could cost you a fortune or even lead to jail time, so contact us today and find out how we can help you ensure the security of your medical records.
