Release of information (ROI) has become one of the more complicated administrative functions in healthcare, and the pressure keeps building. Federal right of access rules require organizations to respond to patient record requests within a tight window, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has made enforcement of those timelines an ongoing priority for years now. Meanwhile, industry groups like the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) have long flagged inconsistent intake processes and manual tracking as major drivers of ROI backlogs. The strain shows up in enforcement activity, industry guidance, and the everyday workload of health information management (HIM) teams.
Given all of this, it makes sense to consider outsourcing the ROI process when turnaround times slip, compliance requirements become hard to keep up with, staffing gets harder to sustain, and data security concerns grow.
Below is a closer look at each of these four signs.
1. Medical Records Turnaround Times Keep Slipping
As request volumes grow, in-house teams often struggle to keep pace. Delays in fulfilling medical record requests can frustrate patients, providers, and payers alike, and in some cases create compliance exposure. Rising turnaround times despite a team’s best efforts is usually a sign that ROI work has outgrown its current resources. A dedicated ROI partner brings staffing capacity and workflows built specifically to move requests through faster and more consistently.
2. HIPAA Compliance Requirements Feel Like a Moving Target
Regulations around patient access, data privacy, and information sharing continue to evolve. The HHS Office for Civil Rights periodically updates guidance on patient access rights under HIPAA, and its Right of Access Initiative has made clear that even well-intentioned delays can carry real financial consequences. Keeping an in-house team fully current on requirements takes ongoing investment in training and oversight.
When compliance starts to feel reactive rather than proactive, dedicated expertise can help close the gap, giving organizations ongoing visibility into shifting regulations rather than reacting to changes after the fact.
3. Staffing Your ROI Team Is a Constant Challenge
Release of information work requires specialized knowledge, and turnover or staffing shortages can quickly disrupt operations. Frequently recruiting, training, or covering gaps just to keep the function running is a common reason organizations look to outsource.
Industry guidance from groups like AHIMA has long emphasized consistent staffing and clear procedures as central to keeping ROI work running smoothly. Outsourcing shifts the staffing burden to a partner built to absorb turnover and volume changes without disrupting day-to-day operations.
4. PHI Data Security Exposure Is a Growing Concern
Every step of the process, from request intake to record delivery, involves sensitive information. Without dedicated infrastructure and controls, in-house ROI work can carry more risk than organizations realize. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) offers general frameworks for evaluating data security risk in healthcare settings, which can be a useful reference point when assessing an existing process. Growing concern about data security is one of the clearest signals that a more structured approach may be needed, and a dedicated ROI partner is generally built around infrastructure and safeguards designed specifically for handling this kind of sensitive information at scale.
Outsourcing ROI: The Bottom Line
These four signs do not need to appear all at once to be worth paying attention to. Together, they often point to ROI work that has outgrown its current setup. Outsourcing can help relieve these pressures directly. Dedicated ROI teams are designed to process requests more quickly, keep pace with changing requirements, absorb staffing gaps, and apply purpose-built safeguards for sensitive information.
What to Look for in an ROI Partner
This is the kind of shift MRO has helped healthcare organizations navigate for more than two decades, working alongside hospitals, health systems, and clinics of every size to manage the growing complexity of release of information. That experience is part of why MRO has been named Best in KLAS for release of information for 12 years, a recognition based entirely on feedback from the healthcare organizations it serves. Viewed this way, outsourcing ROI work is less about handing off a task and more about matching the process to the scale and complexity it has grown into, with an experienced partner to help guide that transition.
If any of these signs sound familiar, it may be worth exploring what a dedicated ROI partner could look like for your organization. Contact MRO to talk through what that could look like for your team.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to outsource release of information?
Outsourcing release of information means partnering with a third party to manage medical record requests, including intake, processing, compliance review, and secure delivery, rather than handling the function entirely in-house.
Why do healthcare organizations outsource ROI work?
Common reasons include rising request volumes, evolving compliance requirements, staffing challenges, and data security concerns. A broader look at how release of information fits into the patient access process can help frame these tradeoffs.
Is outsourcing release of information more secure than handling it in-house?
Security depends on the infrastructure and controls in place. Dedicated ROI processes often include safeguards purpose-built for handling sensitive health information, which can reduce risk compared to ad hoc in-house handling.