Healthcare Record Retention
Himaswetha Polavarapu
Dr.Mary Cecil
University Of The Cumberlands
Information Governance
10/28/2019
RECORD RETENTION AT HEALTHCARE
INTRODUCTION
Due to many practices and services offered to people in healthcare that cater to the basic needs of an individual, the company undergoes a series of changes in record overtime which are retained safely to avoid them landing into unauthorized hands because some documents may be carrying sensitive information about individuals. Record retention involves storing records that are not in use anymore for example marriage certificates. Because of this need, different companies have developed an online policy of record detention that will determine how long should these records be retained and provide a disposal guideline. In my research, I will analyze online policies developed by the Healthcare industry on the management of their record retention.
RESEARCH QUESTION
How has the healthcare industry like other industries develop an online policy system that manages record retention?
BACKGROUND
Record retention is a very important step initiated in healthcare to ensure there is continuity of care for a patient. Professionals traditionally have been maintaining records through different means like using media as well as paper from which it can be retrieved when the owner visits the healthcare unit again thus can be used for time reference. The management has established an online policy through an appropriate retention schedule which will ensure there is minimal or no legal discovery of the records detained, this approach has worked positively in many organizations including the healthcare sector. Advancement to an online system of record retention through technology has improved the management of this process where data can be retrieved from the system for a specific person very fast and securely according to (Kruse.et.al.2015).
RECORD RETENTION POLICIES
In the healthcare system, management of records involves some basic steps from creation to utilization to maintenance then finally to retention. The following guidelines are responsible for the development, management, and implementation of a record retention program;
· Records need to be kept as per the initial agreement like which document to be retrained and for how long it will take under retention. This helps the management to monitor and understand the nature of documents under retention and can easily be retrieved according to how they were saved on a program according to (Ryan, Edney & Maher 2017).
· Clarity of the policy to show the types of records detained for example for X-ray records of people need to be retained in a different folder from the one that entails birth certificates of people so that the retrieval process can be easy whenever a customer comes back.
· Within the policy as well, there is a retention period for every document as this will enable easy determination of documents ready to be discarded after their detection period is over according to (Wolff.et.al.2016).
· Through the management of retained records in healthcare, we have procedures that except specific documents from the program like it copies files to a specific directory on LAN that stores important files on the health records of clients who visit the healthcare.
After analyzing the procedures to put in place when deducing the best online policy for record retention in the healthcare system, health care entities also need to align their record retention with those a federal and state-specific record retention requirements which will enable them to manage their records well and ensure their total security especially when they are keeping the records for national security groups. With all these, in place, the healthcare industry will have an easy way to manage and control their record retention and have a clear way to protect their health records according to (Redelmeier & Kraus 2018).
References
Kruse, C. S., Mileski, M., Alaytsev, V., Carol, E., & Williams, A. (2015). Adoption factors associated with electronic health record among long-term care facilities: a systematic review. BMJ open, 5(1), e006615.
Redelmeier, D. A., & Kraus, N. C. (2018). Patterns in patient access and utilization of online medical records: analysis of MyChart. Journal of medical Internet research, 20(2), e43.
Ryan, J., Edney, S., & Maher, C. (2017). Engagement, compliance and retention with a gamified online social networking physical activity intervention. Translational behavioral medicine, 7(4), 702-708.
Wolff, J. L., Berger, A., Clarke, D., Green, J. A., Stametz, R., Yule, C., & Darer, J. D. (2016). Patients, care partners, and shared access to the patient portal: online practices at an integrated health system. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 23(6), 1150-1158.
