Medical Record Retrieval Services Compared: 10 Companies Plaintiff Firms Use in 2026

Every retrieval company promises the same three things: nationwide coverage, fast turnaround, and a secure portal. Those promises are table stakes. They tell you almost nothing about which vendor will get your file to demand first. The real differences show up in two places: how the provider list gets built before the first request, and what condition the records are in when they come back. This guide compares 10 medical record retrieval companies that serve plaintiff firms, using what each one publishes about turnaround, pricing, and deliverables as of September 2026.

If you are still deciding whether to outsource at all, start with our guide to how medical record retrieval works.

What a Medical Record Retrieval Company Does for Your Firm

A retrieval company takes the records chase off your paralegal’s desk. The core job is identical everywhere: identify the custodian, send a valid request, follow up until records arrive, pay the provider’s copy fee, and deliver the file.

Everything around that core varies. Some vendors request exactly the providers you hand them. Others build out that list before a single request goes out.

Delivery varies just as much. One vendor returns records exactly as each provider sent them. Another returns a sorted file with the gaps already flagged.

Those two differences decide whether retrieval removes work from your team or quietly moves it somewhere else.

Three Kinds of Retrieval Company

The 10 companies below fall into three rough groups.

• Litigation-support networks such as Lexitas, U.S. Legal Support, and Compex sell retrieval alongside court reporting and depositions on one account.
• Portal-based retrieval services such as Ontellus, ChartRequest, Record Grabber, and National Record Retrieval run requests through a web portal, and several sell summaries as add-ons.
• Newer platforms, including Tavrn, Arctrieval, and our own service, automate outreach and tracking, and tend to price more simply than the older networks.

Quick Comparison: 10 Retrieval Companies at a Glance

Every figure below comes from the company’s own published materials. Where a vendor does not publish a number, the cell says so instead of guessing.

Company	Model	Published turnaround	Published price	What comes back
InQuery	Done-for-you retrieval with provider discovery	Typically 10–14 days	$20 per provider	Sorted, indexed set with a missing-records list
Tavrn	AI platform handling outreach and follow-up	”Days, not months”	Flat fee, amount not listed	Organized records; chronologies and demands available
Lexitas	Litigation-support network	30–45 day average	Not published	Records; AI chronologies available
U.S. Legal Support	Litigation-support network	Not published	Not published	Records through a SOC 2 Type 2 portal
Ontellus	Retrieval portal owned by Datavant	Not published	Not published	Records; indexing and summaries available
ChartRequest	Release-of-information platform	Not published	Not published for firms	Records through a provider-side network
Record Grabber	Self-serve retrieval portal	Three-week average	$50 per request	Records; hourly chronologies available
Arctrieval	Subscription platform	90% of records within 30 days	$155 per month	Records
Compex Legal Services	National retrieval network	Not published	Not published	Records; AI record intelligence available
National Record Retrieval	Portal-based retrieval service	Not published	Not published	Records through an online portal

A turnaround figure is only comparable once you know what it measures. An average across all requests, a share of requests inside 30 days, and a typical range are three different claims.

How We Compared These Companies

Every vendor figure in this guide was checked against the company’s own website or press release in September 2026. Vendor numbers are marketing claims. Treat them as the starting point for a reference call, not as proof.

We weighed six things that decide how quickly a file reaches demand:

• Whether the vendor finds providers beyond the ones your client remembered
• Whether requests are checked for rejection causes before they go out
• Whether status is reported per request or only per case
• Whether turnaround is published, and how it is measured
• Whether price is published, and in what unit
• What arrives at the end: raw pages or an organized, gap-checked set

Security diligence matters too, but it deserves its own checklist. Our guide to HIPAA and data security for medical record AI tools covers the questions to ask.

The 10 Best Medical Record Retrieval Companies for Law Firms

1. InQuery: Finds the Providers Your Client Forgot

We start retrieval from payer and clearinghouse data rather than the intake sheet. That surfaces treating providers your client never named, which is the most common reason a demand goes out light. Before any request reaches a provider, it is checked for the defects that cause rejections: a missing signature, a wrong date of service, a misspelled name.

Status for every request sits in one portal. Typical turnaround runs 10 to 14 days. Pricing is $20 per provider, so a case with eight treating providers comes to $160.

Records come back sorted, indexed, and deduplicated, with a list of anything still missing. The same file can go straight into a chronology and a drafted demand, cited to the page, whenever you want that step. The full deliverable list is on our record retrieval service page.

Best for: plaintiff firms whose files keep turning up providers nobody requested.

2. Tavrn: AI Outreach With Demand Drafting Attached

Tavrn uses agentic workflows to contact providers, supply the right authorization template for each one, and handle follow-ups automatically. Firms track each request in real time as medical, radiology, and billing records land in the case file.

Tavrn advertises a flat fee and delivery in “days, not months.” The product page does not list the amount. Chronologies and demand letters are sold on the same platform.

Best for: firms that want retrieval, chronology, and demand drafting from a single vendor.

3. Lexitas: Retrieval Inside a Litigation-Support Account

Lexitas publishes a 30–45 day average turnaround, a 98% record completion rate, and 4 million provider relationships. Each client gets a dedicated account manager and bi-monthly status reports.

Its Record Insights product builds AI chronologies from retrieved records. Court reporting and deposition services run through the same company.

Best for: firms already booking depositions with Lexitas that want one vendor relationship.

4. U.S. Legal Support: National Volume on One Account

U.S. Legal Support says it handles more than 400,000 record requests a year across over 1.1 million provider relationships. Ordering, delivery, and download run through a SOC 2 Type 2 client portal. X-ray retrieval is part of the service.

The company acquired American Retrieval in January 2025, so both brands now sit under one owner. Firms splitting volume between them for redundancy are dealing with a single operation.

Best for: multi-state firms that want records, depositions, and court reporting on one account.

5. Ontellus: A Retrieval Portal Backed by Datavant

Ontellus runs retrieval through its My.Ontellus portal. Record indexing, chronologies, billing summaries, and medical canvassing are sold alongside it, plus a DICOM viewer for imaging.

Datavant completed its acquisition of Ontellus in August 2025, making it the base of a new Legal & Insurance business. Datavant also handles record releases for many hospitals and practices, which puts the retrieval side unusually close to the custodians.

Best for: high-volume firms that want canvassing and imaging support inside one portal.

6. ChartRequest: The Portal Your Providers May Already Use

ChartRequest is a release-of-information platform that healthcare providers use to fulfill record requests. Law firms request through its CaseBinder service, with live tracking in a dashboard and mobile app.

Its network covers more than 12,000 healthcare organizations in all 50 states. When a provider already releases through ChartRequest, your request skips a handoff. When it does not, that advantage disappears.

Pricing for law firms is not published.

Best for: firms whose repeat providers already release records through ChartRequest.

7. Record Grabber: A Rate You Can See Before You Call

Record Grabber charges $50 per request, with no startup fees or monthly minimums. Its published service level is paperwork to the provider within one business day, follow-up calls every four business days, and provider fees prepaid.

The homepage cites a three-week average turnaround. Chronologies and summaries are billed hourly, from $30 to $50 an hour depending on depth.

Best for: smaller firms that want self-serve ordering and a published rate.

8. Arctrieval: One Monthly Fee Instead of Per-Request Pricing

Arctrieval charges a flat $155 per month with no per-request fees or markups. It promises 90% of records within 30 days, without follow-up calls from your staff.

The company says its method compels custodians to respond inside 30 days or face enforcement. The pricing model rewards volume. The more requests a firm sends each month, the lower the effective cost of each one.

Best for: busy plaintiff firms whose request volume makes a subscription cheaper than a per-request rate.

9. Compex Legal Services: Five Decades In, Newer AI Tools

Compex has provided retrieval for more than 50 years and covers all 50 states through a client portal. It serves carriers, TPAs, and law firms, and also coordinates IMEs and court reporting.

Its Asabell product turns retrieved records into structured record intelligence. Medical canvassing is available as its own service.

Best for: firms and claims teams that want retrieval bundled with IME coordination.

10. National Record Retrieval: Automated Follow-Up, Provider Fees Handled

National Record Retrieval runs an automated three-way follow-up on every request and pays providers for records directly. Records post to an online portal that also works on mobile. The company describes its platform as SOC 2 Type II compliant and offers record review alongside retrieval.

Best for: mid-sized firms that want dependable follow-up without moving to a national litigation-support vendor.

Retrieval Pricing Models Compared

Retrieval pricing comes in three shapes. A rate only means something once you run it against a real case. The table assumes a case with six treating providers.

Pricing model	Published examples	Six-provider case	Ask the vendor
Per provider request	$20 (InQuery) to $50 (Record Grabber)	$120 to $300 in vendor fees	Does a rejected request bill twice?
Monthly subscription	$155 per month (Arctrieval)	Fixed, falling per request as volume rises	Are provider copy fees included?
Quoted per engagement	Lexitas, U.S. Legal Support, Ontellus, Compex	Not published	Are there minimums, rush fees, or per-page charges?

What Providers Charge on Top

Vendor fees are only part of the bill. Hospitals and practices charge their own copy fees, which state law usually sets for requests made under an authorization or subpoena.

Requests made under a patient’s HIPAA right of access follow a different rule. 45 CFR 164.524 limits those fees to a reasonable, cost-based amount and gives the provider 30 days to act, with one 30-day extension. Ask every vendor which request type it sends, because that choice moves both the fee and the clock.

How to Shortlist a Retrieval Company

A demo shows you the best case. These three tests show you the typical one.

Test Every Vendor on Your Five Slowest Providers

Pull the five providers that stalled your last dozen files. Ask each vendor about its actual history with those custodians, not its network size. A count of four million provider relationships says nothing about the rural imaging center that ignores faxes.

Ask Where the Provider List Comes From

Most vendors request exactly the providers you give them. If your list came from the intake questionnaire, it is probably incomplete.

Clients forget the urgent care visit and the specialist they saw once. A vendor that pulls treatment history from claims data, or canvasses for providers, closes that gap before the first request. Otherwise you find it months later, when a records gap analysis flags treatment nobody requested.

Ask What Arrives, Not Just When

Request a sample delivery built from a real, closed file. A stack of 900 unsorted pages moves the work to your team rather than removing it. The useful deliverable is a set that sorting and indexing has already put in date order, with duplicates gone.

Retrieval Is Where the Demand Timeline Starts

Records are the input to everything that follows. A medical chronology cannot cover treatment that was never requested. Damages specials cannot include bills that never arrived.

That is why a retrieval decision shows up so much later in the file. Firms that pair retrieval with a chronology built for the demand spend less time reworking the file after the last record lands.

Retention Deadlines Cap What Any Vendor Can Get

No retrieval company can recover a record the provider has already destroyed. Hospital retention periods commonly run five to ten years, and physician offices often keep records for less. Check the medical record retention rules by state before promising a client that older treatment history is still obtainable.

Which Retrieval Company Fits Your Firm

Most firms do not need the “best” vendor in the abstract. They need the one built for the problem their files actually have.

If your firm…	Start with
Keeps finding providers nobody requested	InQuery, or Ontellus for canvassing
Wants retrieval, chronology, and demands from one vendor	Tavrn, InQuery
Already books depositions with one litigation-support company	Lexitas, U.S. Legal Support, Compex
Sends high monthly request volume on simple provider sets	Arctrieval
Wants a published rate and self-serve ordering	Record Grabber
Sends most requests to providers on one release platform	ChartRequest

Plenty of firms run a primary vendor plus a fallback for the providers that vendor handles badly. That works fine, as long as one person owns the list of which provider goes where. Plaintiff teams weighing the rest of the workflow can see how retrieval fits alongside chronologies and demands on our page for plaintiff firms.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do medical record retrieval companies charge?

Published rates run from $20 to $50 per provider request, and Arctrieval sells a $155 monthly subscription instead. National networks such as Lexitas and U.S. Legal Support quote per engagement. Provider copy fees usually come on top, so compare the total for a real case rather than the headline rate.

How long does medical record retrieval take?

Published figures range from a three-week average at Record Grabber to a 30–45 day average at Lexitas. Your slowest provider sets the real timeline, since a file is not ready for demand until the last set arrives.

What is the difference between a retrieval company and a copy service?

A retrieval company works for the firm requesting records. A copy service, also called a release-of-information vendor, works for the hospital releasing them. Your request often passes through both, which is one reason a single provider can take far longer than the rest.

Can a retrieval company find providers my client did not mention?

Some can, and it is the question most worth asking. InQuery works from payer and clearinghouse data to identify treating providers before requests go out, and Ontellus sells medical canvassing as a separate service. Most other vendors request only the providers on your list.

Do retrieval companies organize the records they deliver?

Most deliver records as the provider sent them and sell summaries or chronologies separately. A few return an organized file by default, sorted and indexed with duplicates removed and a list of what is still missing. That difference decides whether review starts the day the file lands or a week later.

The right vendor is the one that gets a complete file to demand fastest, not the one with the biggest network number. To see what a complete, organized record set looks like on one of your own cases, book a demo and send us a file.