Medical Records Retention and Destruction Rules – Avoid Fine and Penalties

Event Materials (Key Required)

As our world continues to move toward the digital age, many practices are moving their records to digital storage and starting to eliminate all paper records. But did you know that there are some records that you can never completely destroy? And that your state has specific retention requirements that may be different from federal law? This presentation will offer an overview of medical record retention, an explanation of why it matters for practices and providers, and best practices to avoid liability.

In an increasingly digital world, all practices should develop a written policy defining the legal health record and the designated record set and identifying where the records physically exist. Records must be retained in a way that is secure and makes retrieval by the provider as easy as possible. This presentation will review the laws at play when creating a record retention policy and what it should include. We will also provide information on how to implement an effective retention schedule. At a minimum, record retention schedules must ensure patient health information is available to meet the needs of continued patient care, legal requirements, research, education, and other legitimate uses of the organization.

We will also explain how the False Claims Act impacts your practice’s record retention. As False Claims Act claims become more common, it is recommended that you revise your medical record retention policies to retain all medical records for at least ten years to better protect yourself and your practice from any possible FCA claims. We will explain why you should retain records for this period and how to effectively update your practice’s retention policy.

Lastly, the presentation will delve into destruction. When should records be destroyed? How should records be destroyed to comply with state and federal laws? Due to storage constraints, most providers will not be able to retain records indefinitely, so records must be destroyed when appropriate. This presentation will provide this information and more best practices for destruction, including how to create a destruction log.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn how to comply with both federal and state requirements for medical records
• Understand how to create a record retention log
• Learn how long medical records should be retained for
• Understand why an effective medical retention policy is so important
• Identify best practices for storage of records, both digital and physical
• Learn when to destroy medical records
• Learn how to properly dispose of medical records
• Learn about the most common HIPAA mistakes to avoid when storing and destroying medical records

Areas Covered in the Session:

• What is a medical record?
  • Physician records
  • Pharmacy records
  • Psychiatrist records
  • Diagnostics
  • Administrative and financial data
• Defining the Record
• Record Retention: Applicable Laws
  • Federal Laws
  • HIPAA – 45 CFR 164.316
  • State Laws
  • False Claims Act (31 USC 3729)
  • Accreditation requirements (Medicare Conditions of Participation, Joint Commission)
• Home Health Agencies Retention Requirements
• Disclosure of Medical Records
• Requests for Medical Records
• Request Denials/Corrections
• Common HIPAA Privacy Mistakes
• Bizarre HIPAA Violations
• Evolving Standards of HIPAA Compliance in COVID-19 Times
• False Claims Act Case Law Update
• Retain Your Medical Records
• DOJ Cyber Fraud Initiative
• Storage and Destruction
• Storage and Retrieval
• Storage Practices
• Practical Storage Tip
• Destruction Documentation
• Destruction Log Example
• Destruction Plan and Policy
• Outsourcing Destruction Services
• Notifying Patients of Destruction
• Inadvertent Destruction of Records
• Improper Destruction of Records
• Destruction of Non-Medical Records
• Cases and Examples

Suggested Attendees:

• Healthcare CEOs and COOs
• Healthcare Executives
• Physician Practices
• Individual Providers
• Hospitals
• FQHCs
• Billers
• Coder
• Administrative Staff
• Revenue Cycle Team
• Physician, PAs and NPPs
• Medical Providers
• Medical Officers
• Practice Managers
• Registered Nurses
• Office Staff
• Physicians and Nurses
• Healthcare Attorney and Legal Staff
• Patients
• Compliance Officers
• Risk Managers
• Information Technology Managers
• Information Systems Staff
• Privacy and Security Officer
• Records Release Manager and Staff
• Anyone who Comes Into Contact with Patient Records
• Other Healthcare Provider Executives

Presenter Biography:

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Additional Information:

System Requirement:

• Internet Speed: Preferably above 1 MBPS
• Headset: Any decent headset and microphone which can be used to hear clearly

For more information, you can reach out to the below contact: Toll-Free No: 1-302-444-0162 Email: care@skillacquire.com

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