Electronic document retention standards for HIPAA are three years. Since there are no paper documents with electronic medical records, the longer seven year document retention period should be observed. These requirements will cause significant issues for healthcare providers over time.
Most medical practices do not archive electronic medical records, and as a result will be in violation of HIPAA retention requirements. Even those that do may have problems recovering data is necessary. With the rapid changes in technology and any change in EMR software, historical data may become inaccessible.
Healthcare providers must take archiving and data retention into consideration when planning any EMR system.
Marshall Wright 