Shredding services are highly customizable, with programs allowing you to witness the shredding or save costs by sending the paperwork to an offsite facility. There are two effective options for disposing of expired medical records: Witnessed Shredding Shredding medical records as soon as they expire is an important step in the record retention process that should not be neglected. To maintain a high level of security, documents passed their set retention period should be destroyed as soon as possible. As you create your own record retention schedule it helps to be as specific as possible so that employees never have to guess about when to dispose of a record.Īs far as storing your records up until it’s time to dispose of them, organize your files so they are quick to locate, but also so they are grouped with other documents that expire at the same time. The above chart does not cover every record type, but you can use it to help guide you in the right direction. Here is a general record retention table to help you get started:ĭiagnostic Images (x-ray films, etc) (adults)ĭiagnostic Images (x-ray films, etc) (minors)Īge of majority plus statute of limitationsĪs you can see, record retention periods differ according to the type of information contained in the document and whether the document regards an adult or a minor. General Record Retention GuidelinesĮach state has different requirements for how long healthcare practitioners should keep certain records.Īt your organization, you must create and document a record retention schedule and set up your record management procedures to streamline retention and quick disposal efforts. Medical record retention is governed at the state level. Yet while HIPAA dictates security and privacy rules, it does not specify exact record retention periods for documents other than policies and documentation regarding compliance efforts. Title IV: Application and Enforcement of Group Health Plan Requirements Title III: HIPAA Tax-Related Health Provisions Title II: HIPAA Administrative Simplification HIPAA is broken up into five distinct titles: Passed in 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was enacted with several goals, all centered around medical record security and simplifying the record-keeping process for healthcare practitioners. The most pertinent nationwide regulations regarding medical record-keeping stem from HIPAA. With specific guidelines in place for how long to keep all types of private records, medical offices can easily sort and organize their files, streamlining record-keeping procedures while maintaining a strict, high level of security. To ease the strain on healthcare institutions, record retention periods were created to make a simple, standardized record management process that healthcare providers can rely upon. Unfortunately for the healthcare industry, this is impossible.ĭiligent record-keeping is necessary to provide thorough and correct patient care, but having robust amounts of personal details in writing presents a catch twenty-two scenario. The best way to keep private information safe is to never write it down. This article focuses on record retention laws and guidelines, why they are important, and provides tips to ensure your practice is keeping in compliance. Once a record expires, it should be effectively destroyed immediately. These laws classify types of records and specify a specific length of time they need to be kept for. Record retention laws have been established to keep the information contained in medical records as safe as possible. To combat the ill effects of healthcare breaches, healthcare organizations are held to a high standard and are heavily regulated to ensure patient information security. Hackers target all types of personal information, such as credit card and tax-related info, but medical records are a prime target for criminals because of the vast amount of private, valuable information they contain. The total number of medical record breaches continues to increase year over year, and experts don’t see this phenomenon slowing down anytime soon.īoth large and small medical organizations are targeted as hackers try to find the quickest and easiest ways to steal the most information. In 2017 alone over 3,000,000 healthcare records were breached.
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