3 Stress-Free Medical Records Management Approaches | Secure Cloud Backup Software | Nordic Backup

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Managing medical records is a critical component of running any medical practice. This IT function is what keeps healthcare providers in compliance with HIPAA, keeps medical records up-to-date and on-file, and allows medical practitioners to provide excellent health care based on complete and accurate medical records. Because of the heavy importance of medical records on healthcare organizations, it’s vital to achieve a records management approach that properly handles, organizes and stores these important and protected documents.

As with any digital document or file, there are many ways to manage medical records. In order to keep your approach as stress-free as possible, with a focus on security, organization, retrievability, and record life-times, follow the approaches outlined below.

Selecting medical records for storage

Before you embark on a medical records management approach, you must determine what documents need to be stored and what (if any) regulations surround them. Without this knowledge, you may mistakenly categorize a medical file and put your practice in a sticky situation.

Retention lengths:

Firstly, determine your state’s regulations regarding records retention. These limits vary state by state, however according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, most records should be stored as follows:

  1. Maintain records of adult patients for a minimum of 3 years
  2. Neonatal patient records (3 – 18 year) should be maintained for 21 years
  3. For children 18 year of age + 3 year.
  4. From income tax point of view for 7 years.

Begin by identifying which records fall into these categories and then you will be able to apply the approaches below, based on their retention lengths.

Ensuring privacy & compliance:

The HIPAA Privacy Rule requires that covered entities apply the appropriate physical, technical, and administrative safeguards to ensure the privacy of medical records and PHI. For many practices, ensuring these safeguards means opting for digital storage options. Whereas physical storage options are high-risk for physical damage like loss, mold and fire, digital cloud-based options provide better security measures and recoverability. Both physical and digital storage types will be considered in each of the 3 approaches listed below so that your practice may determine the best storage type.

 

HIPAA compliance employee education handbook

Medical records management approaches

Once you’ve determined the records retention stage of your medical records, you will need to store them accordingly in order to remain out of legal trouble, and in compliance with HIPAA.

Medical records generally fall into 3 buckets:

  • New and current records – By sorting based on the retention lengths outlined above, and comparing it to your list of active patients, you’ll be able to determine which files fall under “new and current” medical records. Patients who are new to your practice or who have visited you within the last 3 years should be considered active and added to this bucket. These records are the ones you’ll need the most access to, and therefore should always be within reach. While you may have both digital and physical records that fall within this category, be sure to back every new and current record up to the cloud in order to maintain access. By utilizing secure cloud backup, you’ll be able to recover your new and current records should they ever be lost or deleted due to human error, physical device damage, malfunction, natural disaster, or other data loss scenario. determine what will be stored digitally/on paper. Should be within reach always. Should be accessible  — insurance and malpractice purposes

  • Inactive files – While maintaining medical records that fall beyond the bucket of “new and current” may incur more storage space and costs, managing this bucket is vital for both insurance and malpractice purposes. However, since these records don’t need as much immediate access, you can archive them rather than store them on-site. Best practices recommend maintaining two archives: one physical, for hard-copy records, and one digital, for ePHI and backups of your hard-copies. You don’t need to purchase multiple softwares in order to achieve a high-functioning digital archive. Instead, you can use the cloud backup system you’re using for your new and current medical records as a digital archive for your inactive files as well. Here’s an explanation of how to create a digital archive with your cloud backup provider.

  • Old files – Categorize files that fall outside of your state’s medical record retention length requirements as files that are outdated and therefore ready for disposal. Even though you no longer need to maintain these records, they are still protected by HIPAA and therefore must be properly disposed of. Not doing so could lead to a breach of your patients’ protected health information. To properly dispose of medical records, shred any physical copies, remove digital files from the cloud, and overwrite and degauss files stored on physical storage devices.

No matter which bucket your medical records fall into, it’s important to gauge each of your management approaches based on HIPAA’s requirement for applying the appropriate physical, technical and administrative safeguards. This means keeping physical files hidden in locked cabinets, using cloud backup with military-grade encryption and unlimited previous file version histories, and educating your employees on appropriate methods for handling medical records. Each of these steps will help your practice avoid a medical record breach, and once these safeguards are implemented, you can rest easy knowing that your patients’ health information is safe and secure.

Looking for HIPAA compliant cloud backup? Start your 90-day free trial of Nordic Backup here and get access to military-grade encryption, unlimited previous file version histories, and more.

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