I’ve been working at a telehealth company for four years, starting in call center support and now in Clinical Operations, where I handle medical records. Recently, my department inherited a sub-department that deals with patient inquiries and requests from attorneys and insurance companies for medical records. The workload has skyrocketed due to a security update in our app that prevents patients from accessing their records, leading to a 140% increase in requests. With half of my team laid off to cut costs, I’m now managing all these requests alone, which has made it nearly impossible to keep up. I’m also graded on how quickly I can close out requests, which has been impacted by the increased volume and the mistakes that arise from rushing. I’ve spoken to my supervisor about the situation, but medical records seem to be a low priority compared to other operational tasks. I feel overwhelmed and frustrated, especially since I’m responsible for ensuring compliance with HIPAA regulations while also trying to meet the demands of patients. I’ve considered escalating the issue to our Compliance Officer, but my manager thinks that’s too extreme. I’m starting to doubt if I’m cut out for this role, especially when I see how my work is perceived by others in the field. It feels like I’m just doing customer service with extra steps, and we desperately need a dedicated Health Information Management department to handle these requests properly.