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Medical Records Obligations by the State of Massachusetts

Hospitals in Washington DC and in the entire District Of Columbia should keep records for at least seven years from the last visit for adults.
If a patient is a minor on the date of the last visit, then the physician must maintain the pediatric patient’s records for a minimum period of either seven years from the date of the last patient encounter or until the patient reaches the age of eighteen, whichever is the longer retention period.

That adult's medical records will be kept for 7 years

The MA state also requires that minor's medical records will be kept until the minor becomes 18 years old.

Information source: Click here

This means hospitals and medical doctors in the State of Massachusetts can safely send X-ray films dated 2018 for adults and for minors born in or before 2007 to disposition.

Disclaimer: The information for retaining periods of x-ray films in MA, brought as courtesy for our x-ray silver recovery customers. the information was collected from MA department of health website and other online sources, however, B.W. recycling, Inc is not responsible for the accuracy of the information on this page and might not be up to date.

Medical Records Retention law by HIPAA

In case you do not know:
HIPAA left the responsibility for the X-ray film disposal process with the physicians/facilities and gave physicians/facilities the choice of doing an on-site or off-site X-ray film destruction.
However, the HIPAA rule states that the disposal process of the X-ray films and other medical records must be done in a way that preserves the confidentiality of the information.
Therefore, signing a BAA (Business Associate Agreement) with the recycling company is highly recommended.
Read more about BAA

Click here to check the minimum amount of film we need for a free pick-up in Massachusetts

Check other states retention period requirements below: