Health Records

Health Records

In the daily operations of a healthcare organization, health records serves many and different purposes. Health records are the healthcare providers’ basis in planning their patients’ course of treatment. These are important documents that the providers cannot do without because they will have to review these later on, discuss them among their colleagues, and used them as sources of information for statistical, research, and educational functions or even legal proceedings. The health records would be used to produce the hospital’s billings and financial reports as well. Patients would have these health records to review as well if they want to or need to (HCT, 2004). Because of the significant roles the health records play, effective health record retention policies and schedules need to be constructed. Health records are also popularly abused and subjected to fraud, so there must be sufficient protective measures implemented with their storage and destroying (Rinehart-Thompson, 2008). Storing important records should follow strict guidelines because these are very significant information for the running of smooth operations in the hospital. Purging and destroying this information would follow important guidelines as well, that are consistent with the established retention schedule, plan and procedure of the organization (AHIMA, 2005, n.p).
Health records must be stored and maintained in a manner that follows all “applicable regulations, accreditation standards, professional practice standards, and legal standards.” In which the standards may vary based on practice setting, state statutes, and applicable case law.” (AHIMA, 2005, n.p). Storage of health records in an organization should be done in a way that prevents loss, destruction, or unauthorized use. Traditional methods of storage or storage of paper health records include open-space shelving for those active files and off-site box storage for archive records. Each record is filed in their...

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