Frequently Asked Questions
How do I sign up?
There are two basic options:
Option #1 is for you to contact your primary care physician. If they are participating with Medarc then they can archive your medical records. If they are not participating with Medarc's services then they may contact us at customerservice@medarc.com
Option #2 - if you can not find an archiving physician then contact us at customerservice@medarc.com for assistance.
What is a medical record archive?
A medical record archive is a collection of your pertinent medical records that can be used and reviewed by a treating physician who is caring for you.
Why couldn't I just archive my own medical records?
Good question! If your past medical history is simple enough you can simply archive your own medical records and there is no need for MedArc's services. For most patients, their medical records are complex and they need help trying to select which records are pertinent and which are not. It is often too difficult for a patient to understand the medical/surgical terminology of diagnosis and procedures in order to create a meaningful archive. It can also be very frustrating for a patient to collect their pertinent records from many different locations such as other physician's offices and outside hospitals. That is why they need the advice and assistance of an archiving physician and their staff professionals to help patients construct an archive that provides a brief and concise overview of their medical history.
Why should I use MedArc - Aren't there other medical record archiving services available that are cheaper?
Yes, there are other services available which are failures. They often require the patient to collect and archive their own medical records. These archives frequently lack important pertinent documents. When patients do their own medical record archives, they frequently do not know which documents are important and therefore archive everything. This leads to an archive that is too bulky and cumbersome to use. Many treating physicians find these particular archives to be useless.
What is a treating or user physician?
A treating or user physician is a physician who will be using your medical record archive or treating you in the future. This may be an emergency room physician who is treating you late at night when records are frequently unavailable or a specialist that you have been referred to. Simply let them know that you have subscribed to MedArc and give them the appropriate user name and password so that they can access your medical record archive. When you give them your user name and password, you are giving them consent to view your medical records.
What is an archiving physician?
An archiving physician is a physician and their staff professionals who collects the pertinent documents in your medical record and archives them for you. The archiving physician is frequently your primary care physician or a specialist who already has the majority of your records in their office already. The archiving physician also reviews your past medical history and assists you in constructing the data contained in the "face sheet" of your medical record archive.
How current is my medical record archive?
Your medical record archive is current only to the date of your last archive update. That date is located on the top of your face sheet and can be quickly identified once a user physician logs in to view your medical records. Therefore, it is obvious that any treatments rendered after that date will not be reflected in your medical record archive. Once your archive is updated any treatments since the last archive update will be added and archived for future use.
What if I have had medical care or surgery since my last archive update?
Obviously, treatments and care rendered after your last archive update will not be reflected in your archive. Once your archive is due for updates, any pertinent records will be added to your medical record archive. On-demand medical record updates are available. This option can be discussed with your archiving physician.
How often can my medical record archive be updated?
This depends on the plan of your preference. Your medical record archive may be updated every three months, six months, twelve months or on-demand. The update frequency should be a decision made by you and your archiving physician. Your archiving physician is responsible for your medical record archive updates.
Is my medical record information secure?
Your medical record archive is secure via user names and passwords. The security is the same as when you use your credit card online for other business transactions.
Do any third parties have access to my medical records?
Absolutely not. No third parties such as insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, or government agencies have access to your medical record archive. Only you get to determine who gets to view your medical record archive.
What if I'm treated in an emergency room and I'm unconscious and cannot communicate with the emergency room physician?
When you subscribe to Medarc's services, a Medarc card will be mailed to you. Simply write in your username and password on the back of the card and carry it in your wallet. Remember, you are responsible for the security of your usernames and passwords.
What if I lose my Medarc card?
You may change your user name and password at anytime. A replacement Medarc card may be mailed to you for an additional $20.00 fee.
Can I update any information in my medical record archive myself?
There are some areas located on your face sheet that you are empowered to change yourself. Some examples would be if you needed to change your emergency contact information, change of address or telephone numbers etc... Remember, you are responsible for the accuracy of these changes.
Why not just archive everything in my medical record?
The result of archiving everything in many patients medical record would lead to a achive that would contain literally hundreds of documents. This would create an archive that would prove to be too large and cumbersome to utilize and many treating or user physicians would find to be useless.
How much does MedArc's services cost?
The cost of MedArc's services depends on which option you pick. The option packages are based on the frequency of the archive updates and are summarize below:
Pay by Check
ARCHIVE UPDATES - EVERY 12 MONTHS = $200.00/YEAR
ARCHIVE UPDATES - EVERY 6 MONTHS = $250.00/YEAR
ARCHIVE UPDATES - EVERY 3 MONTHS = $300.00/YEAR
Pay by Credit Card
ARCHIVE UPDATES - EVERY 12 MONTHS = $16.67/MONTH
ARCHIVE UPDATES - EVERY 6 MONTHS = $20.84/MONTH
ARCHIVE UPDATES - EVERY 3 MONTHS = $25/MONTH
- All monthly payments will be drafted automatically with recurring billing.
To learn more about the costs of MedArc's archive options: click here...
