ziglar,
There is no set time frame, it seems to be decided on by medical
facility. Some sites have laws specifying how long medical records and
films have to be kept. I would reccomend first calling your state
medical board and asking them if there is a state requirement and
using that as a MINIMUM. Also, consider storage space and # of
prospective parient films you could accrue.
Here are some examples:
Idaho
(c) X-ray films may be destroyed five (5) years after the date of
exposure, or five (5) years after the patient reaches the age of majority,
whichever is later, pursuant to paragraph (d) of this subsection, if there
are in the hospital record written findings of a physician who has read
such x-ray films.
(d) At any time after the retention periods specified in paragraphs (b)
and (c) of this subsection, the hospital may, without thereby incurring
liability, destroy such records, by burning, shredding or other effective
method in keeping with the confidential nature of their contents,
provided, however, that destruction of such records must be in the
ordinary course of business and no record shall be destroyed on an
individual basis.
http://www3.state.id.us/cgi-bin/newidst?sctid=390130094.K
Policies of the University of California
http://www.policies.uci.edu/adm/records/iv.html
Here is a table of State laws of Retention by state.
http://library.ahima.org/xpedio/groups/public/documents/ahima/bok1_012547.pdf
Looks like most places keep them from 5-10 years
You can find some other examples here.
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=retention+OF+hospital+FILMS&btnG=Search
If this answer requires further explanation, please request
clarification before rating it,
and I'll be happy to look into this further.
Nenna-GA
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