Records and Documentation - Retention
How long are records and/or documentation required to kept ?
Any examples are for illustrative purposes only.
Retention of medical records is generally determined by state and/or federal law. Organizations should work with their legal and risk management leadership to determine state-specific medical record retention requirements. Likewise, legal and risk management leadership should determine retention requirements for documents NOT considered part of the permanent patient medical record. Examples of documents not considered part of the patient's medical record may include, but are not limited to:
Retention of medical records is generally determined by state and/or federal law. Organizations should work with their legal and risk management leadership to determine state-specific medical record retention requirements. Likewise, legal and risk management leadership should determine retention requirements for documents NOT considered part of the permanent patient medical record. Examples of documents not considered part of the patient's medical record may include, but are not limited to:
- Crash cart daily checks
- Temperature monitoring logs,
- Human Resource/employee file documents,
- meeting agendas and minutes,
- sign-in sheets for attendance at meetings,
- educational events,
- Sterilizer logs
- Etc.
Manual:
Laboratory
Chapter:
Leadership LD
First published date: April 11, 2016
This Standards FAQ was first published on this date.
This page was last updated on October 21, 2021