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COLuMN BarJournal

JULY/AUGUST 2015

praCTiCe Tip
hoW To SAVE oN MEDICAL RECoRDS

Michael A. Liner

am intelligent, quick witted, and a “on request, a health care provider or Unlike many contingency fee practices
good listener. But if my colleagues medical records company shall provide in which the standard fee agreement is
practicing personal injury, medical one copy of the patient’s medical record 1/3 or more of the total recovery, fees for
malpractice, nursing home neglect or and one copy of any records regarding services performed in a disability case sOCial seCuriTy & disaBiliTy
I any other type of law with crossover treatment performed subsequent to the cannot exceed the lesser of 25 percent of
into the Social Security disability world original request, not including copies of the claimant’s past-due benefits or the fee
needs another reason to want to be my records already provided, without charge to limit set by the Commissioner of Social
friend, consider this: I (along with the other a patient, patient’s personal representative, Security, which is currently $6,000.
practitioners in our budding section) may or authorized person if the medical record Upon learning that your client has filed
be able to help you and your clients get free is necessary to support a claim under Title or intends to file for disability benefits,
medical records. Oh, and one more friend- II or Title XVI of the “Social Security have the client sign a HIPAA compliant
worthy quality is that we love to share. Act,” 49 Stat. 620 (1935), 42 U.S.C.A. 401 record release and send it to their disability
O.R.C. § 3701.741 sets the (maximum) and 1381, as amended, and the request attorney with a specific request for the
cost to acquire paper or electronic medical is accompanied by documentation that a records you need. Voila! Happy lawyers,
records at $2.74 per page for the first ten claim has been filed.” happy clients, and maybe some new referral
pages, $0.57 per page for pages eleven The rationale for this exception is two- partners to boot. What could be better
through fifty, and $0.23 per page for fold. First, many (if not most) claimants than that?
pages fifty-one and higher. To put that seeking disability benefits from Social
into perspective, to acquire the records Security are indigent because they are out
from a typical 250-page hospital visit of work, a requisite to applying for benefits. Michael Liner is chair of the Social Security
would cost an attorney $96.20. I often Second, disability attorneys are generally and Disability Section. He is the founder of
hear my colleagues in related practices subject to a strict fee cap imposed by federal Liner Legal, LLC. He represents disabled
commiserating about the significant statute, which would make expensive individuals across the U.S. before the
investment they must make in medical record acquisition cost prohibitive, creating Social Security Administration. He has
records to determine the viability of a a barrier to claimants from being able been a CMBA member since 2011. He can
potential case (and whether they can to hire skilled legal representatives to be reached at (216) 282-1773 or mliner@
assist), as well as the cost of acquiring assist with the difficult disability process. linerlegal.com.
records during the course of representation.
As a possible way to sidestep these high
costs, consider this practice tip: ask your Guess who’s the fish.. …in the PHISH??
potential and current clients if they have
applied or intend to file for benefits from
any of the disability programs offered by
the Social Security Administration (“SSA”).
If the answer is ‘yes’, ask if they either have
an attorney assisting them with that matter
or would like to be referred to an attorney
for assistance (as we all love referrals).
Disability attorneys in Ohio are fortunate Email Phishing can cost you your COMPANY
to be able to take advantage of one of the Call to schedule a Threat Analysis
exceptions provided within O.R.C. § 440.892.9997 ● www.msmctech.com
3701.741. According to the Revised Code
April 2019 Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Journal | 37