When To Outsource Your Record Retrieval

So many things have changed our world and the legal industry over the last few years; work from home, challenges with staffing and maintaining control of budgets amid the growing cost of labor. Making the decision to outsource your records collection can be a challenging one. However, there are many benefits to doing so.

Potential to Recoup Internal Costs: The expense of outsourcing records can potentially be recouped upon favorable outcome of the case. Ultimately, making it free to outsource records. You may take pause at passing through this cost to your clients but take a moment to think about what it is costing you in time and attention to collect these records with staff paralegals, and you can’t recoup those costs. Let’s consider the breakdown and comparison of cost for in house vs outsourcing.

Example: Let’s say a Paralegal Salary is $70,000, and they are spending 50% of their time on record retrieval, that is $35,000 in non-recoupable costs.
Improve cash flow: We pay your custodian fees upfront which can provide you with improved cash flow and staff efficiency. Your staff no longer must process, sign, mail, or track manual checks. The backlog of checks can happen easily which causes delays.
Improve staff Efficiency: Outsourcing may increase staff availability between 25-40% to focus on other firm cases or initiatives. Outsourcing will also help regarding staffing in general. It has been difficult to fill open staff roles as salaries have increased over the last three years and many firms may start recession planning by choosing not to fill open roles right now. When you choose to outsource, the client’s record-related expenses are always paid, current, accurate, and tied back to the correct case, all without your accounting team entering those clerical details. of record retrieval will enable ﬁrms to increase staﬀ eﬃciency, send more demands, and increase proﬁts.
Improve serviceability: Receive more accurate record files faster. Firms that process records in-house, typically average 58 days. Our national average turnaround time is 30 days with key relationships with 3.5 million providers.
Data security: Outsourcing with a trusted vendor ensures all HIPPA security regulations are strictly adhered to, relieving you of unnecessary liability.

Change your mindset – Business First

There is a high priority is to increase staﬀ eﬃciency and reduce costs while continuing to send more demands to keep the pipeline ﬁlled. The ﬁrms that will survive and thrive over the next several years are those who can pivot. The firms must learn to run their practices like businesses.

The change to remote working along with the current rise in salaries and the shortage of professionals to fill associate and paralegal roles have forced firms to assess internal processes and staffing to optimize the case pipeline and profits. Adjusting your tactics on records collection is the perfect solution. Our process will increase staﬀ eﬃciency, send more demands, and ultimately increase proﬁts.

Brandy Patrick is the President of the Record Retrieval Division of Lexitas. Ms. Patrick has over 17 years of experience in sales, operations, and mergers & acquisitions. Ms. Patrick is a thought leader in the industry, providing deep knowledge of HIPAA and the complex laws impacting record retrieval. Prior to her current role, Ms. Patrick was President of America First Legal Services, a premium record retrieval company acquired by Lexitas.

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