HealthSERVE Medical Record Management encourages our clients to manage retention of their records and destroy any records that exceed the retention period. In this way, we help you reduce costs associated with storing records that no longer need to be kept, increasing the efficiency and accuracy of your current and required records.
We work closely with your departments/divisions to determine an appropriate retention schedule for the full range of records to be stored. Then, we offer services for purging and destroying records as directed.
Record Retention Scheduling
HealthSERVE Medical Record Management works with each of our clients to develop a record retention schedule that meets the needs of all legitimate users and complies with legal, regulatory and accreditation requirements. As part of this process, guidelines should be created that specify what information should be kept, the storage medium (paper, microfilm, optical disk, magnetic tape, etc.), the time period for which it should be kept, and means of disposal as soon as possible and practical.
In creating a Records Retention and Destruction Program, three key things are needed:
- Records retention schedule
- Records destruction policy and procedure
- Records destruction and documentation, including:
- A signed authorization form for each batch of records destroyed and a list of the records destroyed
- A certificate of destruction
Record Retention Management Saves Money
When considering the total cost of ownership for your records, consider the factors that are directly related to record retention. These include: labor, including staffing and overhead for retrieval and maintenance; floor space and associated security requirements (locks, alarms, fire suppression equipment); filing equipment (shelving, filing cabinets), including depreciation; and filing supplies (boxes, file folders, labels). These costs for retaining your records beyond the required timeframe can greatly exceed the cost of creating a professional record retention program, including the associated disposals and confidential destruction fees.
Retention Statutes and Regulations
In the absence of specific statutes and regulations, information may be kept for at least the period specified by your state's statute of limitations. When setting up a comprehensive schedule for records whose retention is not clearly defined, one approach is to utilize questionnaires or conduct interviews of individuals and groups to determine true usage. Also, check departmental procedures for workflow involving the records.
Ask the following questions:
- Is the record vital?
- What regulations and/or laws require that this record be created and retained?
- What strategies/directives/goals/missions/functions are associated with this record?
- Is the action taken on this record central to the facility's or the department's strategies/directives/goals/missions/functions? How?
- What are some of the reasons these records get referenced?
- How frequently is the information referenced: every week, month, year, etc.?
- How old are those files that are used routinely, and how often is it necessary to look at files that are older than that?
- How old was the oldest record ever needed?
- How long are records kept? If they are referenced for six years, what would happen if they were kept for only five years? If there are no consequences involved in destroying the records after five years, why keep them for five years? The aim should be to reduce the retention period to the minimum time before the risks of destruction would be unacceptable.
- What would be the consequences if older records could not be obtained? (This could range from disappointment and personal frustration to losing a job, a lawsuit, money, property or life.)
- Who owns the information regardless of the origination or receipt of the record?
- What other personnel/departments use this record?
- What departments/areas within the organization supply information for these records?
- Is the information duplicated or summarized elsewhere?
- Is the information in multiple formats? Is the information maintained on more than one medium? Remember that retention time is based on informational content, not media.
- What hardware and software are needed to support this record?
- How many records of this type are accumulated in a year? Consider growth of files and shrinking storage space.
- How much does it cost to maintain this record?