Do you work in the medical or health fields? Secure Medical Records Disposal practices are vital.
When it comes to medical records disposal, there is no room for error. This is something that must be done right – every time.
What makes a good medical records disposal program? Understanding the risks, the potential outcomes and your responsibilities.
What is Medical Records Disposal?
Or imagine patients accessing information without a complete understanding of what it means, and trying to come to conclusions themselves before their doctor has had a chance to discuss it with them?
There are so many reasons to ensure that medical records are stored or disposed of securely.
What organisations need Medical Records Disposal?
Those who work in the medical or health fields need to treat patient privacy and security with absolute seriousness.
This includes: Hospitals, General Practitioners, Medical Specialists, Dentists, Optometrists, Nurses, Administrative Staff, and Auxiliary Services such as pathology clinics, mental health practitioners and physiotherapists.
What are the laws?
Medical organisations and practitioners have strict policies and procedures regarding patient privacy. A breech of these laws can result in expensive lawsuits or even inability to practice.
Why you should choose iShred
If security of a patient’s information isn’t handled correctly, it can lead to devastating results. From an identity theft perspective, medical records and details are a gold mine for criminals. To know someone with that level of detail has the potential to open doors to other secure areas.
From a wellbeing perspective, however, much more life-destroying damage can be done. Imagine serious medical information, results or prognoses ending up in the wrong hands … or being disclosed to loved ones before the patient wanted them to know?
Files – both physical and computerised – need to be stored securely and in an organised manner. Information may need to be accessed quickly in an emergency, and patient health is potentially at risk.
For the most part, patient records are held indefinitely, but some paperwork that needs to be disposed of may be drafts, printer errors or transient notes and messages.
These cannot simply be disposed of in a standard bin. Some may have patient details on them, including contact details.
This is where it is critical to use secure medical record disposal practices.
Get in touch with iShred today to start your record disposal program.
