Total cost calculator for medical record review software
Short answer: 12-month cost = setup fees + license for the pages or cases you run + the time you spend checking the output. Enter your volume once, then up to 4 vendor quotes, and the calculator shows each total and how much of it is your own time. Use checking times you measured in a trial.
Limits: Vendor facts come from each vendor's own website, read on 2026-11-12; we haven't run every product, and prices, terms and security claims change, so get them in writing before you sign.
Your volume and your time
Defaults are illustrative, taken from the synthetic example on the home page. Replace them with your own numbers. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
| Option | Pages billed | License and fees | Your checking time | 12-month total | Per file | Split |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A: per page | 72,000 | $7,200 | $21,600 | $28,800 | $480 | |
| B: monthly allowance | 90,000 | $9,588 | $21,600 | $31,188 | $520 | |
| C: per case | 60 cases | $11,940 | $21,600 | $33,540 | $559 | |
| D: seats or license | n/a | $1,080 | $43,200 | $44,280 | $738 |
With the default inputs, option A costs least. Option D's license is the cheapest line, but the slower checking time makes it the most expensive in total.
How the calculator works
- Pages uploaded = files per year × average pages per file. Unique pages = pages uploaded × (1 − duplicate share).
- Option A bills unique pages, or every uploaded page if you set duplicates as billed, at your per-page price, plus fees.
- Option B spreads billed pages evenly over 12 months. Each month costs the fee plus overage on pages above the allowance. Real months are uneven, so treat this as a floor.
- Option C is files × price per case, plus fees. Check per-case page caps and limits separately.
- Option D is seats × monthly price × 12, plus any license or setup fee. Check document size limits: some seat products can't load a full record set.
- Your checking time = unique pages ÷ 100 × your minutes per 100 pages ÷ 60 × the value of your hour. It counts unique pages because you check content once, whatever the billing.
The calculator leaves out 3 things on purpose: the time to learn a new tool, which is real but 1-off; tax; and any value from faster turnaround, which differs too much by practice to default.
How to measure your checking time in a trial
The checking-time input decides most results, so measure it rather than guess. Vendors quote how fast their software runs, not how fast you can verify what it produced.
- Use a closed file you reviewed by hand, ideally 500 to 2,000 pages.
- Start a timer when the output is ready. Stop it when you would be willing to sign a report based on it.
- Count every fix you made: wrong date, missed visit, wrong citation, invented fact.
- Divide your minutes by the number of unique pages, then multiply by 100.
- Run the same file on each shortlisted tool, ideally a week apart so you don't remember the answers from the last run.
A tool that needs many fixes will also take longer to check on the next file, because you trust it less. Put that number in honestly.
Worked example on a synthetic practice
Synthetic, no real practice or patient. A 2-physician IME practice uploads 60 files a year averaging 1,500 pages, 20% of them duplicates, values an hour at $300, and measured 6 minutes per 100 pages checking options A to C in trials and 12 minutes for a general AI seat product that doesn't cite pages. Those are the defaults above.
| Option | License and fees | Checking time | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| A: 10 cents a page, duplicates not billed | $7,200 | $21,600 | $28,800 |
| B: $169 a month for 1,200 pages, then 10 cents, duplicates billed | $9,588 | $21,600 | $31,188 |
| C: $199 a case | $11,940 | $21,600 | $33,540 |
| D: 2 seats at $45 a month, 12 minutes checking | $1,080 | $43,200 | $44,280 |
The cheapest license, D, is the most expensive year. Halving checking time is worth more than any discount on the rate. If the practice had only 12 files a year of 300 pages, the license lines would shrink to a few hundred dollars and the choice would come down to which tool the physician checks fastest.
Questions about total cost
Why count my own time?
Because you still verify and sign. A tool that saves $2,000 in license but adds 10 hours of checking costs you more at most physician hourly values.
What duplicate share should I enter?
Measure it: count repeated pages in 2 or 3 recent files from multiple sources. If you can't, run the calculator at 0% and at a higher share to see how much it matters for options that bill duplicates.
Does the calculator include rush fees?
Add them under setup and other fees as a yearly amount. Services more often charge rush fees than self-serve software does.
Can I save my numbers?
No. The calculator stores nothing. Note your inputs, or print the page to PDF from your browser.