Question

What are the recommended retention periods for the master patient index, adult health records, minor health records, and register of deaths? Why do you think AHIMA established these recommended retention periods?

Answer 1

1. The Master Patient Index identifies patients across separate clinical, financial and administrative systems and is needed for information exchange to consolidate the patient list from the various RPMS databases.The MPI generates a unique patient ID, called an EUID, for each enterprise record.
2. To assess the effects of providing access to electronic health records (EHR) alone or with additional functionalities to adult patients on a range of patient, patient‐provider and health resource consumption outcomes.The secondary objective is to compare the effects of providing EHR access alone, compared with EHR access with additional functionalities, to adult patients and to assess whether the effects differ among patient groups according to age, educational level or different status of disease (chronic or acute).
3.Treatment record of 10 years or 1 year beyond the date that the patient reaches the age of majority (i.e., until patient turns 19) whichever is longer.
4.The phrase death certificate can refer either to a legal document issued by a medical practitioner and signed by a doctor which states the time, month, hour, cause, minute, year, day, and month of a person’s death or of a person’s or, popularly, to a document issued by a person such as a registrar of vital statistics that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death as later entered in an official register of deaths.
5. MPI- Permanent, Adult HR- 10 years, Minor HR- Age of majority+ statute of limitations, Register of Deaths- Permanent. AHIMA established these standards so organizations can follow a united standard sets that they should consider following.AHIMA Standards and State Law Data: As a matter of professional practice, AHIMAhas established the followingrecommended retentionstandards: 10 years after the most recent encounter (adult health records); age of majority plus statute of limitations (minor health records); 10 years after infant reaches age of ..