Retrieving records is a key part of discovery for a legal firm, whether it’s medical records, financial records, or any other type of supporting documentation required for your case. Some firms choose to handle this in-house, but for many others, outsourcing is a more convenient option that frees up your time for other tasks such as focusing on case strategies for your client. However, there are many companies that offer a record retrieval service, so how do you choose between them? Here are some factors to bear in mind when deciding which is the right partner for your firm.
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What is record retrieval and why outsource it?
Very simply put, record retrieval is the process of locating a specific document, file, piece of data, or record, then obtaining or delivering it so that it can be used in the relevant case. These records could be anything from medical, insurance, legal, and financial records to records on employment or education.
Of course, it’s possible to handle record retrieval yourself, but outsourcing can bring a wide range of benefits. Firstly, it saves you a lot of time, because document retrieval can be an extremely long process. By handing the task over to the experts, you can devote your valuable time to higher-priority work that only you can handle. It can also save you money, because you don’t need to hire an in-house record retrieval team—instead, you only pay for the service as and when you need it.
Another advantage is that by working with a specialist company, you may receive the documents that you require more quickly. This is because you’ll have a large team working on your job, with many years’ experience to draw on. Finally, you don’t need to worry about cybersecurity and data privacy, as that will all be handled by the team as well.
Factors to consider when choosing a records retrieval company
There are a plethora of businesses who offer record retrieval services, so picking which one to work with can be daunting. To help make the decision easier, here are some factors that you should bear in mind when looking at the different companies available:
- Reputation—think about how other firms regard the company, and who works with them. See if you can read reviews from previous clients to get a feel for what they are like in terms of reliability, punctuality, and so on.
- Cost—this shouldn’t be the only factor you take into account, but it’s obviously worth considering as you don’t want to be overcharged. Equally, be suspicious of quotes that sound too good to be true.
- Experience—look at how long the company has been operating for, and how well their staff are trained. Laws differ from state to state, so having a nationwide presence is a positive sign.
- Compliance—check that they are fully HIPAA compliant and meetSOC 2 Type II security certification.
- Delivery system—you want to make sure that the records they retrieve for you will be easy to access digitally, and well organized.