ABC Hospital

Effective Date: January 1, 2014

RETENTION AND DESTRUCTION OF HEALTH RECORDS POLICY MANUAL

Purpose:
The purpose of this manual is to ensure:
1) That paper health records are protected and retained for the
required amount of time specified by state and federal
standards.
2) That paper health records that are no longer required to be
retained shall be destroyed in accordance and manner specified
by state and federal standards.
3) That all health record personnel have the knowledge and
understanding of the retention and destruction policies and
procedures of ABC Hospital.
Scope:
This manual applies to all ABC Hospital personnel that work with health
records.

Responsible Party:
Director of Medical Records Department at ABC Hospital

POLICY

I. Policy Statement
This manual is ABC Hospitals policy on the retention and destruction
policy of paper health
records, prior to the transition to the EHR
system in June of 2014. This policy is to give a clear and concise view to all
health records personnel on how to proceed in carrying out these procedures.

II. Procedure
A) Retention
Health records that are still being utilized are considered active and
must be
retained in accordance with state and federal
standards.
1) This policy mandates that health records shall be retained by
the following
criteria.
a) Records that shall be held a minimum of ten years after
recent appointment includes:
1) Operative indexes
2) Physician indexes
3) Disease indexes
b) Records of minors must be retained until age of majority.
c)

Fetal heart monitor records will be held ten years after

infant reaches age of majority.

d) Diagnostic images must be retained for five years.

e)

Records that must be permanently retained includes:

1) Master patient/ person index
2) Register of births
3) Register of deaths
4) Register of surgical procedures

2) All records must be retained in a safe and secure location.

3) If change of ownership, active records must be transferred to
new owners.
4) The entire record must be filmed from paper to microfilm, if the
ten years time
period has expired.
5) In case of facility being closed down then records are to be
kept intact or to be
disposed.

B) Destruction
Once records have been determined inactive, they must be
disposed of in
Accordance with state and federal standards.
1) The reasons for disposal include:
a. Retention time period has expired.
b. Hospital has need to free up storage space.
c. Transfer of the paper form to other forms of information
storage i.e. microfilm
d. Organization is being sold or being closed down.
2) In accordance with state and federal standards, records must
be destroyed in
following manner:
a) Paper records must either be burned, shredded,
pulverized or pulped.
b) Microfilm records shall be recycled or pulverized.
3) A certificate of destruction must be filled out for each and
every record that
has been destroyed with the following information:
a) Date of destruction
b) How they were destroyed
c) What the records were composed of
d) What dates the records covered
e) Statement that records were destroyed in normal course
of business
f) Signature of the supervisor, witness and employee who
destroyed the record.

ADA
1.
2.

Medprogroup(2014).Record Retention. Retrieved from http:/ www. Medpro.com

Downing, K. & Pye, M. (2013). Retention and destruction of health information
2013 update. Retrieved from http:/ library.ahima.org/doc
3.
Farenholz, C & Russo, R. (2013). Documentation for health records. Chicago, IL
American health information management assciation