One of the most involved steps in filing a mass tort against a medical device manufacturer, drug company, or another entity is obtaining the records of each participant. Once someone agrees to be a participant in your mass tort, you will then need their medical records as part of the evidence in your case.
Since this is such an involved process and you need time to work on preparing the particulars of your case, consider hiring a medical record retrieval company to handle this part for you. At Mass Tort Alliance, we specialize in record retrieval and can help get this crucial information to you and your team of attorneys. Contact us to learn how our specialists can assist in the mass tort that you are putting together.
How a Record Retrieval Company Can Streamline Your Law Firm’s Process
As you well know, filing a mass tort requires a huge investment of time and money, and as the law firm behind the case, your time is invaluable. You do not have time to spend tracking down patient records, billing info, and anything else that may be pertinent to the case. This is where a record retrieval company comes in to help streamline the process. Let an expert record retrieval specialist take on that part of your mass tort process. Letting us handle this process allows you to focus on the nuts and bolts of the case, forming your strategy, and speaking with participants who may have questions that only you and other attorneys at your firm can answer.
Questions You Should Ask a Record Retrieval Company
When you look into hiring a record retrieval company for your law firm, you want to find someone who is reputable and has lots of experience working in this area. With a mass tort, you may be dealing with hundreds of people across the country at various medical offices. Those offices will all have different protocols when it comes to releasing patient records. To find the right firm, ask these questions to ensure you are hiring a record retrieval company that knows what they are doing:
- Is your staff well-versed in medical terminology and HIPAA laws? It is not always easy to get a doctor’s office or other medical entity to release patient files, especially under HIPAA regulations. You need to hire record retrieval specialists who are well-versed in medical terminology and who know how to handle a doctor’s office that may not easily release patient records. There will also be laws that vary from state to state. Retrieving records is a vital part of your mass tort, and you need someone who can do it properly so that you have the evidence you need for the tort to be successful.
- How many records can you handle retrieving? Some mass torts have a large number of participants, and you need a company that can handle retrieving that amount of records. It would be awful to pay someone to tackle this task for you only to find out that they were overwhelmed and could not complete the full retrieval of records in time for the court hearing or the deadline for filing evidence. Make sure to ask the company how they handle a large volume of requests and what their workflow is like.
- Do you outsource your services to other countries? If they do outsource to other countries, you need to ask to see their plan for security and protection of sensitive client data. Not every country has the same rules and regulations surrounding the protection of medical records, and you need to ensure your mass tort participants’ information will be safely protected in the event of an attempted data breach. Most healthcare entities in the United States are now using electronic health records (EHR), meaning their data will be stored on a server by your record retrieval company. It is ultimately up to your law firm to ensure all data is protected and secure, so make sure you are hiring the correct record retrieval specialists for the job.
- Can you offer data mining services as well? Many record retrieval companies also offer data mining services, meaning they can examine your mass tort participants’ EHRs to look for any common grounds. They can see if there are patterns among insurance carriers, hospitals, or doctors. This can prove invaluable in your case and is a vital service that you can use to your advantage.
- Are you able to retrieve other types of records, too? Sometimes in a mass tort, you will need to retrieve other records besides medical records. This can include billing data, police records, employment information, Social Security numbers, and more. You need a record retrieval company with versatile abilities that can provide you with everything you will need to successfully file your mass tort.
- Do you have any subject matter experts on staff? If an issue arises and your record retrieval specialist notes the problem, they may be able to find an answer to your question by consulting with a subject matter expert. For example, a nurse practitioner may be able to provide answers to a medical pattern that is found among hospitals and could potentially see that the nursing staff was trained improperly, leading to neglect in a case.
Need to know more about our record retrieval services? Contact us today to schedule a consultation.
At Mass Tort Alliance, we supply you with all the services needed to help your law firm file a successful mass tort, including record retrieval. If you are looking to take some administrative tasks off of your plate, allowing you to work on other important parts of the case, then we can help. Contact us today to schedule a consultation with our team.