Have you considered these five areas in your ROI outsourcing?
- Compliance Adherence: Ensuring that the ROI vendor is knowledgeable and compliant with current healthcare regulations, such as HIPAA and HITECH, and is proactive in adapting to new regulations.
- Efficiency and Timeliness: Evaluating the vendor’s ability to meet or exceed required deadlines for the release of information, which is crucial for patient care and the operational effectiveness of the healthcare practice.
- Digital Proficiency: Assessing whether the vendor utilizes advanced digital methods and technologies, like AI and automation, for efficient and secure processing of medical records.
- Comprehensive Customer Service: Confirm that the vendor offers end-to-end support in the ROI process, including managing follow-up inquiries and assisting in accessing and understanding the released information.
- Cost-Benefit Analysis: Weighing the costs against the benefits of the vendor’s services, ensuring that they provide high-quality services at a reasonable cost without negatively impacting patient satisfaction or the healthcare practice’s reputation.
As we move through 2025, the management of medical records and the release of information (ROI) continues to be a critical consideration for healthcare practices. At BHS Connect, we find that outsourcing ROI can offer numerous benefits, including enhanced efficiency and compliance. However, choosing the right vendor / partner requires careful deliberation. Below, we’ve included some updated and essential questions that healthcare administrators should ask before outsourcing their ROI processes, ensuring they select a partner that aligns with their practice’s needs and regulatory requirements.
1. Compliance Adherence: Is the Vendor Up-to-Date?
In a landscape where regulations are constantly evolving, it’s crucial to ensure that your ROI vendor is not only compliant with current HIPAA and HITECH standards but also proactive in adapting to new regulations. Evaluate their understanding of recent changes in healthcare laws and their strategies for maintaining compliance. Remember, as a healthcare provider, you share responsibility in ensuring that your partners adhere to all regulatory requirements. For example, it is crucial to ensure that patients are not charged for the electronic delivery of their records, in the “intention” of the Information Blocking regulations. Although some vendors still advocate for billing patients based on technical interpretations of the law, this approach exposes providers to potential legal risks from attorneys with a broader interpretation of the regulation.
Here are a few critical questions you should be asking your vendor:
- Can you provide documentation of your adherence to HIPAA, HITECH, and Information Blocking regulations that help protect us and our patients?
- What structured processes or tools do you utilize to ensure your team remains fully updated on regulatory changes, including federal, state, and industry-specific requirements?
- What proactive compliance measures are integrated into your operations to prevent penalties, such as those related to improper billing for electronic health records (EHR) delivery, and how are these validated internally?
- How do you develop, deliver, and track staff training on regulatory compliance, and can you provide access to your training materials, records, or certifications to confirm alignment with best practices?
- How often are your policies and procedures subjected to formal review, and what mechanisms ensure timely updates to reflect emerging laws or regulatory shifts?
2. Efficiency and Timeliness: Can They Meet Stringent Deadlines?
Efficiency is critical in healthcare, particularly in the realm of ROI where delays can compromise compliance, patient care, and operational effectiveness. When evaluating vendors, assess their ability not only to meet but to exceed state and federal turnaround time requirements. While regulatory benchmarks may establish a baseline, true excellence lies in a vendor’s capacity to align with—and surpass—the expectations of your patients and their requesters. This is the differentiator that minimizes complaints, reduces the burden of managing dissatisfied requesters, and mitigates the risk of costly legal challenges from attorneys demanding timely access to records.
To effectively evaluate a Release of Information (ROI) vendor, consider asking these key questions to gain a comprehensive understanding of their performance:
- What is the vendor’s ratio of electronic versus mail delivery for ROI requests? This metric reflects their commitment to modern, efficient workflows and their alignment with current industry trends favoring electronic exchanges for speed and security.
- What is the vendor’s true turnaround time, measured from the moment their team initiates action on a request to the point when the requester receives the complete medical records? Ensure their response is focused on end-to-end performance, not partial metrics such as the date records were mailed or pre-billing initiated, which can obscure the actual service timeline.
- Can the vendor provide a de-identified turnaround time report from an active client site? This allows you to evaluate not only their performance but also the clarity and practicality of their reporting. Robust reporting should present data in a format that is both understandable and actionable, enabling you to assess whether their service metrics meet your operational and compliance needs.
3. Digital Proficiency: Are They Leveraging Advanced Technologies?
In 2025, digital capabilities are not just an advantage but a necessity. Evaluate whether the vendor utilizes electronic methods for handling records. Digital operations typically offer faster, more secure, and more efficient processing of information. Ensure that their digital solutions are compliant with HITECH and other relevant cybersecurity standards. Ask about their use of advanced technologies like automation to streamline ROI billing processes. This is a key component to staying compliant and keeping the healthcare facility protected from legal risks of not complying with state and federal regulations.
4. Comprehensive Customer Service: Do They Offer End-to-End Support?
An ROI vendor’s customer service extends far beyond simply answering inquiries—it plays a pivotal role in your facility’s overall efficiency and patient satisfaction. When outsourcing ROI services, it is critical to partner with a vendor who assumes full ownership of the process, ensuring your internal team is not burdened with resolving issues that should be managed by the vendor.
In our experience, comprehensive end-to-end support from an ROI vendor includes the following key elements:
- Managing Follow-Up Inquiries: Promptly addressing and resolving follow-up requests to minimize delays and ensure seamless communication.
- Proactive Communication: Keeping your requesters informed at every stage, preemptively addressing potential issues to prevent issue escalations.
- Troubleshooting and Problem-Solving: Swiftly identifying and resolving obstacles to maintain compliance, efficiency, and satisfaction for all stakeholders.
- Providing Customer Care to Requesters: Delivering courteous and informed support to requesters, enhancing their experience while reducing the burden on your staff.
- Taking Full Ownership of the ROI Process: Acting as a seamless extension of your team by managing the entire ROI lifecycle from start to finish, freeing your staff to focus on core responsibilities.
Selecting a vendor with these capabilities ensures not only compliance and operational effectiveness but also an improved patient experience and reduced administrative strain on your facility.
5. Cost-Benefit Analysis: Is the Investment Justifiable?
Finally, conduct a thorough cost-benefit analysis. An ideal ROI vendor should provide tiered pricing options, including a “no-cost” model, without sacrificing service quality or compliance. A lack of a no-cost option often indicates inefficiencies or insufficient automation within their ROI processes. This can lead to increased costs and operational burdens for your facility. If a vendor cannot demonstrate both cost-effective solutions and high operational efficiency, it may be prudent to consider other providers who have optimized their workflows to align with industry standards and your organization’s needs.
In the end, choosing the right ROI outsourcing partner in 2025 is a decision that goes beyond basic operational considerations. It requires a strategic approach considering compliance, efficiency, technological advancement, comprehensive service, and cost-effectiveness. By thoroughly evaluating potential vendors against these criteria, healthcare administrators can make an informed decision that benefits their practice, enhances patient care, and maintains regulatory compliance.
