Learning Packages for Medical Record Practice - ifhima

ecords can be kept in the active or inactive file area.
f) The volume of research activities. Universities and teaching hospitals
have a lot of requests for older and inactive records for scientific and/ or
evaluation purposes
g) Regulatory requirements, such as the statute of limitations and other laws
that may require retaining records for periods as long as 30 years
Based on all these factors a decision should be made whether a record is to
remain active, inactive, be microfilmed or destroyed.
2. Methods of record retention
a) Inactive file area
Inactive records can be stored in an inactive file area of the health record
department, or somewhere else within the health care facility, or even
outside the facility in hired storage areas. Then, of course, messengers
from the health record department or from the hospital are needed to
bring records back and forth.
Sometimes commercial storage companies are involved. If this is the
case, a contract is needed to determine responsibilities and duties of the
company concerning storage, retrieval, delivery and confidentiality.
1) Advantages of storage of a complete record include:
� the record is retained in the original form
� the ease of reference of the original material and
� the availability of the information.
2) Disadvantages include:
b) Microfilming
� cost and space requirements
� deterioration of paper with time passage
� accessibility and possible fire hazard.
Another means of inactive storage is microfilming, requiring a minimum of
storage space. Microfilming is a storage option that has been used for
many years. It reduces the image of each document and places it on
either a roll of microfilm or in a microfiche jacket. This can be done
in-house or by commercial companies.
IFHIMA Education Module 3: Record Identification Systems, Filing and Retention of Health Records
(2012)
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