Medical Records Left Outside - Document Shredding
March 4, 2020
Recently, a news crew from WSB-TV was alerted to boxes of medical records left outside a doctor’s office. These records contained the personal information of hundreds of patients including social security numbers, medications and addresses.
All this information is protected by The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) which governs how medical professionals are required to take, store, disclose and destroy patient information. Obviously, leaving them out behind the building is discouraged. The results? I think it is fair to assume that the business itself is destroyed. The doctor will be liable for tens of thousands of dollars in penalties and restitution not to mention the costs of winding down a business prematurely. Employees are out of work. Patients will face the daunting challenge of obtaining medical records and prescription refills from a closed business. Here’s the crazy part. Those records could have been shredded for less than $100.
Protected Personal Information
There are two important lessons here. First, even in the age of Electronic Medical Records, what HIPPA defines as Protected Personal Information will still wind up on paper and with the creation of that document comes responsibilities for handling it. Some of it is included in a paper chart. It might be scanned and attached to the EMR for the patient. It may be faxed as a referral or included with orders for a procedure.
Think of how much paper that is every day and then you might have an appreciation for the degree of exposure any medical office faces. And it can’t go into the trash. Ever.
Recurring Shredding
For $35, we will place a console in your office and shred the contents
every four weeks providing you with a Certificate of Destruction to demonstrate your compliance with HIPPA. Consoles located near work stations or record rooms make it as easy for employees at all levels to dispose of information securely in a way that keeps the practice out of the news.
Routine Destruction of Charts and Records
Another issue for medical practices is the routine destruction of charts and records. Many offices utilize offsite storage facilities to securely store their records and a good practice manager will organize the storage area so that records are marked for destruction when they are first put into storage. Retention times can vary by specialty, but we recommend retaining charts for the minimum required time and then destroying them. This reduces liability or any data breaches and saves on storage space and expense.
We can handle any size record purge. For smaller jobs, under 50 standard file boxes, we can pick the boxes up and shred them at our place which saves some money. For larger jobs, we will bring the truck to the storage unit. We will empty your boxes into 95 gallon bins and roll them to the truck where they will be shredded according to HIPPA guidelines. That paper will be delivered to a recycler.
Important Shredding Lesson
So what is the second important lesson? If you are doing something wrong, a disgruntled employee will no longer feel obligated to participate in the conspiracy. Before that happens, as Lyndon Johnson once said, “Take the bull by the tail and look the situation squarely in the face.” We’ll help you cut through the bull to follow the rules.
At I-Shred, security and efficiency are a priority. I-Shred offers stress-free onsite shredding
to save time and ensure your documents are destroyed properly. Which is why we offer recurring service to small businesses. We are dedicated to helping you save time and money when it comes to secure document destruction. Contact us today!
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