Page 33 - Company Newsletters

Major NEXT/ABT Win
In response to a recent bid issued by a major Texas-based university’s Health Sciences Center, NEXT Medical Records (the sister company of ABT Medical) scored a knock-out punch against its competitors.
The other established and well-known bidders included HealthPort (the largest ROI outsource company in the US), Bactes, ScanStat, and DataFile Technologies.
The key to NEXT’s big win was the unmatched automation of the ROI+ platform, with its advanced quality assurance features, on-site “same-day” fulfillment efficiencies, and extensive transaction audit reporting and tracking.
Just as important was the ability for the Provider to access the ROI+ platform in real-time to oversee the current status of all request fulfillment activities and the ability to control the ROI+ security module to grant access rights and privileges to NEXT’s fulfillment staff as well as the Provider’s medical records personnel.
NEXT’s unparalleled record in achieving a 95% rate of secure online delivery of PHI through the ROI+ Requestor Web Portal has established a level of delivery protection unachievable by the other bidders.
This win demonstrates that as the old- guard ROI outsource companies continue to deliver marginal service levels, spotty quality control, and a significant lack of secure electronic delivery, emerging ROI companies such as ABT Medical and NEXT will continue to dominate the market with new platforms designed to incorporate processing efficiencies, electronic delivery, and true revenue share participation opportunities for the Provider-client community.
ROI Fees Become a Politically Charged Agenda
Along with continued government efforts to grant patients increased “consumer rights,” a recent event in South Carolina has focused national attention on the cost of obtaining a copy of one’s medical records.
In June 2014, South Carolina governor Nikki Haley signed into law a bill that caps the amount Healthcare Providers can charge patients for a digital copy of their medical record. This law was a direct result of the case of Gloria Aslanidis, who requested her father's 7,000-page record
from Medical University Hospital. She was charged the full amount permitted by law: $3,801.30 for a digital copy.
The hospital calculated her fee using the per-page rates established by a 1992 state law, which reflected a time when processing such requests was quite paper-intensive. “It allowed hospitals to take advantage of you," Aslanidis said.
The new law caps the charge for obtaining an electronic copy of medical records at $150, regardless of the number of pages in the record or the number of times the patient was admitted to the facility. The cap for a paper copy is $200 per hospital admission. “To be quite honest, I'm ecstatic," Aslanidis said. “It restored my faith in the system.”
In an interview in December, Harrell, R-Charleston, said he thought it was “absurd" for hospitals to charge the same page rate for a digital copy as for a paper copy. "The frustration is, you really shouldn't even have to update the law," he said. "The providers should be exercising some discretion and not charging patients that much money."
As Providers continue to digitize medical records and implement EHRs, situations like this will arise elsewhere, sooner rather than later. Taking their cue from South Carolina, state legislatures across the country will begin to revisit their outdated laws. After examining the costs and methods of releasing medical records today, lawmakers will mandate lower fees in the interests of their patient-consumer constituents.
~ Sam Harrison M.D., Chief Medical Officer

ABT Medical Attends AHIMA
The 86th AHIMA Convention and Exhibit is being held Sept. 27-Oct. 2 in San Diego, CA. This event takes place at a critical point in health information history, making the convention a must-attend event for professionals across all healthcare segments: Providers, payers, vendors, and consultants. Drawing Health Information Management (HIM) thought leaders and professionals as well as healthcare executives from every area of health informatics and information management, this weeklong event provides comprehensive updates, education, and
information on current and emerging industry issues. ABT will occupy Booth #1722, where it will be touting its unique multiple request fulfillment options:
Option 1: ROI outsourcing services through its sister company, NEXT Medical Records. Option 2: An in-house solution for those who wish to process their ROI requests themselves.
Option 3: A combination of outsourcing and in-house processing.
Please contact me at aford@abtmedinc.com if you have comments/questions or would
like to suggest subjects for our community newsletter.
~ Angela Ford, Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications
Angela Ford
aford@abtmedinc.com
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