The count in one line
Take the documents handled in one normal week, multiply by the fields keyed per document, multiply by the minutes it takes to key one document, then multiply by your loaded hourly cost. That product is what one workflow re-keying costs you each week.
Every term is something your own team can answer. Nothing here needs a benchmark, a survey or a vendor rule of thumb.
If your volume looks like the published survey, practices complete 39 prior authorization requests per physician per week (AMA, 2025-04-24), and that is your documents term before anyone guesses.
Term by term
Write each term down next to the week you counted, so the number can be repeated by someone else in your role.
- Documents per week: count the packets that actually arrived in one normal week, fax or portal, one workflow only.
- Fields keyed per document: open three packets and count what gets typed, identifiers, payer, dates, codes, statuses.
- Minutes per document: time your fastest competent person, then add the rework when a field comes back wrong.
- Loaded hourly cost: start from the published wage for medical records specialists, $24.59 an hour (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, page dated 2026-08-27), and load it above that for taxes and benefits.
Where counts go wrong
Counting only the happy path hides the work. Include packets that arrive incomplete, packets keyed twice because the first pass was wrong, and the hand-offs between the fax inbox and the screen.
Do not count clinical judgment. If a person is deciding medical necessity, that is clinical work and it does not belong in this number.
Do not turn the result into a promise. The count measures your own week, and nobody should attach a savings number to it that you did not measure.
What to do with the number
Compare it with a fixed build price, and check that the price covers the same workflow you counted. A smaller number for a wider scope is not comparable.
Use it to pick the first workflow: the one with the most documents times the most fields, not the one with the loudest complaint.
Then bring it to a teardown. We verify your count against a sample run on your own de-identified documents, and you get the Rekey Map and the Field Rulebook back in writing.
Check the count before you trust it
A count that passes all five is ready to sit next to a build quote.
- Check: the count covers one workflow for one normal week, not a busy season and not a slow one.
- Check: every document counted names the screen it is typed into.
- Check: minutes come from timing the work, not from memory.
- Check: the loaded hourly cost includes taxes and benefits, not just the wage.
- Check: the number is labeled as your measurement, with no savings promised.