A release of information is an official statement by a patient. It authorizes a healthcare provider to give a patient access to their protected health information — PHI. It can also authorize the healthcare provider to allow a third party access to some or all of the patient’s PHI.
The data needed for an ROI varies depending on the patient’s specific situation and the provider. For this reason, most healthcare organizations rely on release of information forms rather than individually-written letters.
There are strict federal regulations known as HIPAA laws that protect patients’ privacy. That’s why an ROI request form must almost always be signed by the patient to be legal.
According to the Association of Health Information Outsourcing Services, the ROI process consists of more than 40 steps. These steps can be grouped together into the following five phases:
You can find a more in-depth description of the release of medical records process here. During the ROI process, release of information departments have to comply with both HIPAA regulations and the HITECH Act. They must meet nine strict criteria to ensure every request is handled with the utmost care and confidentiality.
Because the process of releasing medical data is so complex, many healthcare organizations rely on top-quality providers like ChartRequest — the industry standard for secure health information exchange.
Our comprehensive HIPAA-compliant enterprise solution leverages cutting-edge software and cloud infrastructure to streamline your ROI process workflows. This makes them faster and more efficient while at the same time reducing overhead costs. And perhaps more importantly, it greatly reduces the burden on your HIM staff leaving them to do what they do best: provide excellent service for your patients.
See how the ChartRequest app works:
With ChartRequest acting as the custodian of medical records on your behalf, you can rest assured each release of information request is handled quickly, efficiently and securely.
