We have asked one of our hospitals for access to medical records. It is the last holdout, as all of our other hospitals allow such access. At this hospital our staff burdens their billing people with requests for additional information and, as you can imagine, we do not always get timely responses and sometimes we don't get any response. We get requests for medical records from insurance companies after we send claims to them. Demographics and insurance cards are important so we can bill the appropriate person or insurance company (we don't always get the right information when it's first sent to us). Also authorizations can be located which helps us file disputes with insurance when they are denied, and they are required for VA claims.
We are being told no because they cannot limit access to their EMR to just radiology patients. Our contract with the entity does require that they provide timely and accurate information for billing purposes.
Just wondering how people have cleared this hurdle. Does our status as a covered entity provide cover for the hospital's concerns. I'm sure our docs have full access to medical records.
Thank you,------------------------------
Sheila Witous, MBA, CPA, CGMA
Chief Administrative Officer
Radiology, Inc.
South Bend IN
(574) 258-1100 ext. 205
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