KPC Medical Management Approves Plan to Consolidate, Distribute Records

KPC Medical Management, which left 250,000 patients "in the lurch" when it declared bankruptcy and closed its 38 medical clinics last November, has made a deal with state regulators and the state's largest HMOs to consolidate and distribute almost 12 million patient records that since November have been dispersed across Southern California in "makeshift" storage facilities, the Orange County Register reports. Under the plan, the records will be assembled in a single storage facility to be overseen by Iron Mountain, a paper storage company. The records will be stored for 12 months, during which time Iron Mountain will attempt to match the records with their "rightful owners." After the year has elapsed, all remaining records will be destroyed unless Iron Mountain continues to store them at its own expense, Franklin Stevens, the official appointed to oversee KPC's case by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, said. KPC would contribute $300,000 toward the plan, and the health plans would pay the remaining $2.4 million. The HMOs have already spent more than $3 million trying to match their patients with KPC's records, many of which contain "crucial" information regarding medical conditions. The plan must still be approved by James Barr, KPC's bankruptcy judge, who has scheduled a hearing on the matter for Aug. 20 (Wolfson, Orange County Register, 8/3).