Ontellus

What Ontellus does

Ontellus provides medical and other records retrieval, chronology, and claims intelligence services to insurance carriers, third-party administrators (TPAs), law firms, and self-insured corporations across all 50 U.S. states. Founded in 1985 (per company-history records) and headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company operates from offices in Houston, Ontario (California), Orlando, and Temecula with 700+ employees. The core product is the My.Ontellus web portal — a HIPAA-compliant, SOC 2 Type II certified platform that automates end-to-end retrieval from authorization and custodian outreach through OCR processing, Bates labeling, chronology generation, and secure delivery. Supporting modules include SmartChron (automated chronology, reportedly saving up to 40 hours per case), SmartOrg (intelligent record organization with sub-24-hour turnaround), DICOM Viewer (diagnostic-quality imaging), Secure Share (controlled-access document distribution), AddOntellus (embedded integration with Guidewire ClaimCenter and Duck Creek Claims), and SmartPricing/Simplified SmartPricing (flat-fee and AI-driven pricing transparency).

The business model is predominantly transactional: per-request fees are agreed at order placement, invoiced monthly under Net-30 terms, with transparent flat-fee options available. Distribution combines direct enterprise field sales, a self-serve web portal, embedded OEM integrations inside dominant insurance claims platforms, and a SmartPartners channel ecosystem (INTERTEL for medical canvassing, AMFS for medical expert witnesses, ChartSwap for B2B record exchange). Reported quantified outcomes include $250,000 in annual savings per major insurance customer through integration-driven workflow automation and average turnaround of under 30 business days for retrieval nationwide.

The company received a private equity growth investment from Aquiline Capital Partners in January 2020 alongside Capstreet Group and pursued a roll-up strategy, acquiring INTERTEL and MasterTrace in October 2020 to create the nation's largest medical canvassing operation. In June 2025 Datavant agreed to acquire Ontellus (completed August 2025), and the company now operates inside Datavant's Legal & Insurance vertical alongside complementary acquisitions including ChartSwap, AMFS, and DigitalOwl — the last bringing AI-driven NLP-based medical record analysis into the platform.

Name

Ontellus

Legal name

Ontellus

Website

https://ontellus.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Ontellus provides medical records retrieval, chronology, and claims intelligence services for insurance carriers, TPAs, law firms, and self-insured corporations across all 50 U.S. states via its HIPAA-compliant My.Ontellus platform. The company was acquired by Datavant in 2025.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Medical Records Retrieval Services

NAICS

Other Ambulatory Health Care Services (6219)

SIC

Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Claims Administration & Payment Integrity (Medical/Dental/Vision) (HLAEALAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Payer-Provider Data Exchange (X12, prior auth, claims/clinical attachment) (HLACABAK), Compliance, Reporting & Regulatory Administration (ERISA/ACA/No Surprises) (HLAEALAJ)

Keywords

• Medical records retrieval
• Claims intelligence platform
• Records management services
• Medical canvassing services
• Litigation support solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Houston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Records Retrieval Services: Ontellus charges for records retrieval services on a per-request/transaction basis. Fees are agreed at the time of order, invoiced monthly once records are published to the portal, with payment due within 30 days. The pricing is designed with transparent flat-fee structures (Simplified SmartPricing) as well as per-line-item billing. Records can be obtained from medical, billing, pharmacy, personnel, insurance claims, and various other custodians across all 50 states.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Ontellus provides end-to-end medical and other records retrieval services for insurance carriers, third-party administrators (TPAs), law firms, and self-insured corporations, retrieving medical, billing, personnel, insurance claims, and other records via authorization or subpoena in all 50 U.S. states. Its HIPAA-compliant, SOC 2 Type II certified My.Ontellus portal combines records retrieval, automated organization (SmartChron/SmartOrg), DICOM imaging, secure document sharing, and embedded integrations with Guidewire ClaimCenter and Duck Creek Claims. Complementary services include medical canvassing, social media investigation, claims evaluation tools, and foreign subpoena preparation.

Product overview

Ontellus is a comprehensive health records retrieval and claims intelligence platform acquired by Datavant in 2025. The platform operates as a unified system combining a core portal (My.Ontellus) with integrated modules including SmartChron (automated chronological organization), SmartOrg (intelligent records organization), AddOntellus (third-party integrations), SmartPricing (transparent billing), and DICOM Viewer (medical imaging). Supporting services include Medical Canvassing, Social Media Investigation, Summary & Analysis tools, Secure Share document distribution, and Foreign Subpoena Preparation. The platform is SOC 2 Type II certified and HIPAA compliant, serving insurance carriers, law firms, TPAs, and self-insured entities. Integration partnerships with Guidewire ClaimCenter and Duck Creek Claims enable seamless workflow within existing insurance platforms. With the 2025 acquisition of DigitalOwl, Ontellus expanded capabilities to include AI-powered medical data analysis, document de-duplication, and automated summarization.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• My.Ontellus: End-to-end records management and secure exchange platform for legal and insurance professionals to request, manage, and analyze medical records and diagnostic images.
• SmartChron
• SmartOrg
• SmartPricing
• AddOntellus
• INTERTEL
• SmartPartners

Products and services

• My.Ontellus Core web-based records retrieval portal enabling users to request medical, billing, personnel, insurance claims, and other records; view order status and tracking details; download and store records in a HIPAA-compliant environment; and upload and share documents. Aimed at insurance claims and legal professionals.
• Record Retrieval Core service enabling retrieval of medical, billing, X-rays, pathology, personnel, payroll, workers' compensation, insurance, telephone, bank, pharmacy, police, fire, driving, academic, ambulance, and business records via authorization or subpoena in all 50 states. Serves insurance carriers, TPAs, and law firms.
• Medical Canvassing Service that contacts medical facilities in specified geographic areas to uncover where and when a claimant may have received treatment, verifying treatment locations and timeframes to facilitate targeted record retrieval and fraud detection. Used by insurance special investigations units.
• Social Media Investigation Comprehensive social canvassing service that searches, captures, and preserves digital evidence from a person's social profiles, creating a cost-effective, legally defensible, and scalable product for uncovering digital footprints for insurance and legal investigations.
• Summary & Analysis Suite Suite of analysis tools including Billing Summaries, Record Summaries, and Claim Evaluation Reports that provide concise insights from large amounts of medical record information for efficient case discovery and claims resolution.
• DICOM Viewer Medical imaging viewer enabling secure access to diagnostic-quality DICOM images comparable to radiology workstation quality, allowing users to request, review, and securely share diagnostic DICOM images alongside traditional records.
• Secure Share Document sharing capability that allows claims and legal professionals to securely share records with consultants, experts, and independent medical examiners (IME) with controlled access duration and tracking of when records were accessed.
• Foreign Subpoena Preparation Service for preparing and managing foreign subpoenas for records requests across jurisdictions, supporting compliance with varied state-level subpoena requirements.
• Special Investigations Specialized investigative services for insurance fraud detection combining medical canvassing with data analysis capabilities for special investigations units (SIUs).
• INTERTEL Medical Canvassing Nation's largest medical canvass data provider, acquired by Ontellus in October 2020. The INTERTEL approach to leveraging technology and data sharing has become the industry framework for communication of critical treatment history information.
• DigitalOwl AI Platform AI-powered platform that transforms complex medical data into actionable insights by classifying and annotating unstructured medical data, enabling insurance and legal professionals to more efficiently assess risk and make informed decisions. Integrated into the combined Datavant-Ontellus offering.

Quantifiable outcome

• $250,000 in annual savings per major insurance company through integration-driven workflow automation
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability9 records

Feature11 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• DatavantcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 June 2025Datavant, a health data platform company, announced an agreement to acquire Ontellus in June 2025. The acquisition was completed in August 2025. Ontellus now operates as part of Datavant's Legal & Insurance (L&I) vertical, bringing together record retrieval, medical canvassing, expert services, and intelligent analysis into one connected ecosystem. The combined entity aims to create a digital, integrated platform to streamline health records access and reduce administrative burdens for legal and insurance professionals.
• GuidewirecoreTechnology or IntegrationGuidewire ClaimCenter integration via AddOntellus enables insurers to order medical records and receive results directly within the Guidewire ClaimCenter platform, achieving decreased cycle time and improved productivity across claims organizations. This is a deep product integration enabling embedded workflow.
• Duck Creek TechnologiescoreTechnology or IntegrationDuck Creek Claims integration provides insurers the ability to order medical records and receive results directly within Duck Creek Claims, drastically reducing time needed for entry of assignment information and providing workflow efficiencies. Partnership announced in February 2022.
• INTERTELcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerINTERTEL is the nation's largest medical canvass data provider and is itself an Ontellus company (acquired October 2020). INTERTEL's approach to leveraging technology and data sharing has become the industry framework for communication of critical treatment history information. INTERTEL also partners with Duck Creek Technologies.
• AMFS (American Medical Forensic Specialists)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAMFS provides thousands of board-certified, actively practicing medical expert witnesses across the country, offering expert review and testimony services to Ontellus customers through the SmartPartners program.
• Erie InsuranceminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorErie Insurance partnered with Ontellus to process medical records requests using AddOntellus integration with Guidewire. This partnership enables streamlined injury claims processing and serves as a reference implementation for the integration.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Epiq: Large legal and business services provider offering eDiscovery, document review, and claims-related BPO to law firms and corporations; broader portfolio but overlapping in records retrieval, claims administration, and managed services to insurance and legal clients.
• Consilio: Global legal services and consulting firm with a strong eDiscovery, document review, and legal operations practice serving Am Law firms and corporate legal departments; overlaps with Ontellus in medical-legal records and litigation support.
• LexisNexis Risk Solutions: Provides data, analytics, and records/identity information services to insurance, legal, and government customers; broader data play but directly competes in claims intelligence and records-based insights for insurance carriers.
• ExamWorks (Cotiviti): Provider of independent medical examinations, records review, and claims management services to insurance carriers; large incumbent in adjacent claims-administration services that overlap with Ontellus's medical canvassing and SIU offerings.

Direct peers

• Veritext Legal Solutions: One of the largest U.S. court reporting and legal records services firms, serving law firms and insurance carriers with deposition, records retrieval, and litigation support — directly comparable to Ontellus in end markets and core service model.
• ChartSwap: B2B record exchange platform connecting a nationwide network of medical record requesters and providers; competes head-to-head with Ontellus's custodian-facing record upload and retrieval workflow and is also an Ontellus SmartPartner.
• HaystackID: Specializes in eDiscovery, managed review, and records retrieval services for legal and corporate clients; competes directly with Ontellus in medical records retrieval and digital evidence services.
• Innovative Litigation Technology: Records retrieval and litigation support vendor serving insurance carriers, TPAs, and law firms with medical and billing records, a near-direct competitor to Ontellus in the same carrier and legal customer base.

Emerging players

• Lighthouse (formerly DiscoverReady / KrolLDiscovery): Legal technology and services company combining eDiscovery, document review, and analytics; competes for legal and insurance spend that overlaps with Ontellus's records retrieval and analysis services.
• Reveal Data: AI-driven eDiscovery and legal review platform with growing presence in medical record review and insurance matters; an emerging player in the same end markets as Ontellus with a more analytics-centric product.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/datavant
• Xx.com/OntellusInsight

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A7 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ontellus