Law Firm & Record Retrieval Requests

Guidelines for Legal Discovery and Insurance Claims

Acadian Ambulance Service handles thousands of legal requests monthly. To ensure a timely response, all law firms and third-party retrieval services must strictly adhere to the following standards. Incomplete requests will be rejected.

1.  Mandatory 14-Day Processing Window

To protect the bandwidth of our Health Information Management team, we strictly enforce the following:

  • No Status Updates Before 14 days: Our staff will not provide a status update on any request that has been in our system for less than 14 days.
  • The Impact: Repetitive status inquiries redirect staff away from processing records, causing delays for all requesters. Your patience allows our team to maintain a steady workflow.

2. Required Documentation Packet

A request is only considered “received” once a complete packet is provided. Missing items will result in the immediate rejection of the request.

For Law Firms & Insurance Companies:

  • Letter of Representation: Must be submitted on firm/company letterhead and clearly outline the Scope of Request.
    • Required Dates: The letter (or accompanying authorization) must specify an exact Date of Incident or a strictly defined Date Range (e.g., 01/01/2023 to 06/01/2023). Requests asking for “any and all records” without a timeframe will be returned for clarification.
    • Billing & Scope Advisory: Acadian operates on an incident-based system, meaning reproduction fees apply to each individual date of service retrieved. Broad requests without a timeframe will prompt a search of the patient’s entire transport history. To avoid processing delays and unexpected costs for unrelated historical data (such as past non-emergency transfers or canceled calls), we kindly ask that you limit your request to a specific timeframe. Invoices for requested records are final.
  • Valid HIPAA Authorization: Signed by the patient and dated within the last 12 months.
  • Verification of Power of Attorney (POA): If the authorization is signed by a representative, the POA document must specifically grant authority for healthcare decisions or the release of medical records.

Note: General or Financial POAs that lack medical language are legally insufficient and will be rejected.

For Third-Party Retrieval Companies:

If you are a record retrieval service requesting records on behalf of a law firm or insurer, you must include:

  • Letter of Authorization (LOA): A signed document from the hiring firm/insurer stating that your company is authorized to request and receive records on their behalf for this specific patient.
  • The Complete Legal Packet: You must still provide the Letter of Representation and the HIPAA-compliant Authorization from the client firm.

3. Submission & Delivery

  • Email (Fastest): medicalrecords@acadian.com
    • Please include the patient name and date of service in the subject line
  • Mail: Acadian Ambulance, Attn: Medical Records, P.O. Box 98000, Lafayette, LA 70509-8000.
  • Delivery Method: Records are typically delivered via secure email (PDF). Please ensure a valid email address for delivery is included in your request.

4. Fees & Payments

Reproduction fees are calculated based on state and federal guidelines.

  • Invoicing: An invoice will be issued once the records are compiled.
  • Online Payment: Payments must be made via our Medical Records Payment Portal. You must have your pre-payment invoice number to complete the transaction.
  • Release: Records are released immediately upon confirmation of payment.

Professional submission checklist

  • Letter of Representation: Is it on firm letterhead, and does it include a specific Date of Incident or Date Range? (Open-ended “any and all” requests will be returned.)
  • HIPAA Authorization (signed and current).
  • POA Review: Does the document specifically mention “Medical” or “Healthcare” access?
  • Retrieval Authorization: (For third-party companies only) Is the LOA from the hiring firm included?
  • Calendar Check: Has it been 14 days since you submitted? (Staff will not provide updates prior to this).

Subpoena Duces Tecum

All legal service, including Subpoenas Duces Tecum (for records) and subpoenas for personnel to appear, must be served through our Corporate Office:

Acadian Ambulance Service

Attn: Risk Management / Custodian of Records

130 E. Kaliste Saloom Road

Lafayette, LA 70508

Mandatory 14-Day Notice for Medic Testimony: As an emergency medical provider, our primary duty is to ensure our ambulances are fully staffed and ready to respond to the community. Therefore, any subpoena or request for an Acadian employee (Paramedic, EMT, Dispatcher, etc.) to appear for a deposition or court testimony must be served a minimum of 14 days in advance of the appearance date.

This lead time is strictly required so that our operations team can schedule shift coverage for the employee’s absence without disrupting emergency services to the communities we serve.