If you’re getting ready to close your New Mexico medical practice, it’s important to have a clear understanding of medical record retention laws and that you find a professional medical records custodian that you can trust to fulfill records requests after you retire or move on to a different job. Looking for a trusted medical records custodian in New Mexico can be a challenging task. You need to ensure top quality, accuracy, and trusted service.
Desert River Solutions is a leading medical records custodian that provides electronic medical records extraction and document scanning services for medical and dental practices, hospitals, and related businesses. Our medical record management process and medical record storage facilities are HIPAA compliant. We are medical record management experts who convert paper records to electronic forms and assist with electronic health record (EHR) extraction at large volumes turnaround.
Not sure how to handle New Mexico medical record retention legal requirements after closing your practice? Read on for more information about laws and hiring a custodian of medical records or contact us to learn more today.
New Mexico Medical Records Retention Laws
New Mexico Laws for Minors’ Medical Record Retention
Providers:
Medical records for patients who are minors must be retained until the date that the patient is twenty-one (21) years old.
Hospitals:
A hospital shall retain and preserve all records directly relating to the care and treatment of a patient for a period of ten years following the last discharge of the patient.
New Mexico Laws for Adults’ Medical Record Retention
Providers:
Providers must retain medical records that they own for at least ten (10) years after the date of last treatment.
Hospitals:
A hospital shall retain and preserve all records directly relating to the care and treatment of a patient for a period of ten years following the last discharge of the patient.
New Mexico Medical Facility Closure Guidelines
Ideally, patients should be given three months notice. Longer notice may be necessary for patients with psychiatric concerns. In addition, physicians with obstetrical patients should provide care through the end of the pregnancy to those patients who are past 20 weeks gestation. New patients should not be accepted once the decision to close the practice has been made.
Other Laws in New Mexico Related to Medical Record Retention
Laboratory test records and reports may be destroyed one year after the date of the test recorded or reported therein provided that one copy is placed in the patient’s record. X-ray films may be destroyed four years after the date of exposure, if there are in the hospital record written findings of a radiologist who has read such x-ray films. If a physician converts hard copies of medical records to electronic medical records, the hard copy shall be retained by the physician for a minimum of thirty (30) days after electronic transfer has occurred.
New Mexico Medical Record Retention Statutes
If you would like to read the laws in New Mexico pertaining to medical record retention yourself, visit these links:
Preparing Medical Records for Custodianship in New Mexico
Our medical record custodianship experts provide customized quotes based on your specific needs and the number of patient records or charts you have.
We take patient privacy seriously. Our medical record storage and document scanning solutions are all HIPAA-compliant and we use servers specially encrypted for medical record storage. HIPAA was designed to ensure the confidential handling of health records. All medical records scanning must be done in a manner that is compliant with HIPAA and its privacy regulations.
Because your patient’s records are filled with personal health information (PHI), they must remain private and secure at all times. This is not just a moral obligation to your patients, it’s a legal obligation, and it’s important that you partner with a trusted medical records custodian who can ensure the security of your patients’ record throughout the entire custodianship process.
Medical Record Custodian Process:
- All physical patient files are securely shipped to our facility in Phoenix, Arizona.
- We scan your medical records and digitize if needed, and extract patient files from your EMR to house them ourselves.
- We create a custom records request landing page on our website for your patients.
- You give notice to your patients that we will be the custodian of your medical records, using a template we provide.
- You give notice to the New Mexico state medical board that Desert River Solutions is now your custodian of records.
- All health information requests go through us as your medical record custodian and you no longer have to do anything!
- Patients will be able to sign a request form, send it back securely, and receive any requested medical records in a prompt manner.
Learn More About Desert River Solutions Medical Records Custodian Services for New Mexico Medical Practices
When a healthcare facility or doctor’s office closes, hiring a custodian of medical records company to manage patient records makes it easier for doctors and staff to go on to their next adventure. In New Mexico, medical records must be retained for a minimum of 6 years. Desert River Solutions makes it easy for you to ensure your patients have access to their medical records for the legally required amount of time.
Contact us today to get a no-obligation quote on medical record custodian services for your New Mexico medical practice.
Legal Disclaimer: the information contained in this site is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter.
