Health Care -- Medical Retention Laws
Medical records retention requirements, whether Federal or State, are apparently aimed at maintaining records for a significant length of time after a patient's discharge. HIPAA does not impose a specific requirement for retention of a patient's medical records and leaves that task to State legislatures. California meets and far exceeds Federal requirements in multiple requirements from multiple laws. Meanwhile, Nevada takes a far simpler tack while still adhering to Federal requirements.
Federal
HIPAA does not impose a length of time for which patients' medical records must be retained (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009); rather, that requirement is left to the states. However 45 C.F.R. §164.530(j) does require that an entity governed by HIPAA must retain its "privacy policies/procedures, privacy practices notices, disposition of complaints, and other actions, activities, and designations that the Privacy Rule requires...
Department of Health and Human Services, 2012) for six years of the records' creation or last effective date, whichever comes later (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). Of course, if we leave HIPAA and venture into federal programs such as OSHA, for example, there are myriad records retention requirements depending on various circumstances.
California
California's record retention laws are at least as strict as federal law, as required, and are often stricter. Beyond the HIPAA requirements binding covered entities, California has various strict retention requirements stemming from several laws. California's Code of Regulations §70751(c) (22 C.C.R. §70751(c) requires hospitals to keep patients' medical records for a minimum of 7 years after any patient's discharge and, if the patient is a minor, the records must also be retained for a minimum of 1 year after the minor has reached the age of 18 (California State Legislature,…
