If you’re getting ready to close your Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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.
Tennessee Medical Records Retention Laws
Tennessee Laws for Minors’ Medical Record Retention
Providers:
Medical records of minors shall be retained for a period of not less than one (1) year after the minor reaches the age of majority or ten (10) years from the date of the physician’s or his supervisees’ last professional contact with the patient, whichever is longer.
Hospitals:
All medical records, either written, electronic, graphic or otherwise acceptable form, must be retained in their original or legally reproduced form for the period of minority plus one year for newborns, after which such records may be destroyed.
Tennessee Laws for Adults’ Medical Record Retention
Providers:
Medical records shall be retained for a period of not less than ten (10) years from the physician’s or his supervisees’ last professional contact with the patient.
Hospitals:
All medical records, either written, electronic, graphic or otherwise acceptable form, must be retained in their original or legally reproduced form for a minimum period of at least ten (10) years.
Tennessee Medical Facility Closure Guidelines
When a hospital closes with no plans of reopening, an authorized representative of the hospital may request final storage or disposition of the hospital’s medical records by the department. The hospital must have a system of coding and indexing medical records. The system must allow for timely retrieval by diagnosis and procedure. When a physician retires or dies while in practice, patients seen by the physician in his/her office during the immediately preceding thirty-six (36) months shall be notified by the physician.
Other Laws in Tennessee Related to Medical Record Retention
Immunization records shall be retained indefinitely. Medical records for incompetent patients shall be retained indefinitely. Mammography records shall be retained for at least twenty (20) years. X-rays, radiographs and other imaging products shall be retained for at least four (4) years after which if there exist separate interpretive records thereof they may be destroyed. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no medical record involving services which are currently under dispute shall be destroyed until the dispute is resolved.
Tennessee Medical Record Retention Statutes
If you would like to read the laws in Tennessee pertaining to medical record retention yourself, visit this link:
Preparing Medical Records for Custodianship in Tennessee
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 Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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 Tennessee, medical records must be retained for a minimum of 7 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 Tennessee 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.
