Medical Records Retrieval & Murphy’s Law

The following is fiction, and in no way reflects on any insurance carrier real or imagined, although the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Murphy’s Law simply states that whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. For many insurance carriers, this means the process of communication with agents can be labor intensive, ad hoc and unique to each individual agent. This also means Murphy’s Law is more likely to occur on a regular basis.

The process of communication between an agent and an insurance carrier is often a manual, paper driven process and situation specific process. Quality control is nonexistent and impossible to manage. Data tracking and capture is difficult and prone to error if it is done at all. All of this combined can cause untold problems including lost agent productivity, botched communications and lack of responsiveness. Compliance irregularities or violations are common, as well as overpayment or no payment of claims or loss of a client during underwriting. Plunging customer satisfaction and rising operational costs complete this scenario, and cause headaches on both sides of the equation.


Medical record retrieval by an outside source can do much to alleviate a raft of the above problems and punch a hole in Mr. Murphy and his lawlessness. An outside vendor takes on the responsibility of providing quick, efficient turnaround times and dealing with the headaches of doctors and medical facilities in gaining access to clients records. They also develop relationships with these same groups that expedite the process even further. Providing real time updates and reporting, collection of data and keeping costs lower are benefits common to outsourcing. The bottom line result is less cost to the insurance carrier versus “in-house” methods.

Greater customer satisfaction through offering swifter response, superior service quality and more reliable communication between the agent and insurance carrier can be achieved. This also provides greater agent efficiency and productivity by simplifying and standardizing customer communication and eliminating manual process. It also increases the productivity for the home office, with improved data access and definition of work flow processes.

Increased profitability by reducing cycles of claim and underwriting process and retaining existing customers is paramount to insurance carriers. The outsource Vendor provides this by reducing the cost of processing, providing quality control and allowing the carrier to provide superior service to its clientele. It also takes on Murphy’s Law and deals with it specifically by isolating each step in the process and refining it, this should be the vendor’s core business proposition. In doing so, it eliminates Murphy from the equation for the insurance carrier and its agents.

So if you are looking for a solution to your medical record retrieval, contact an outside vendor today, and leave Mr. Murphy on the shelf, where he belongs.

By: Philip G. Frederick

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