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HIPAA rule for disposing of x-ray film records

Hospitals must keep medical record for at least 10 years following date of discharge.
Doctors must keep medical record for 6 years after they received last treatment.

in case the patient was a minor, the doctor must keep their medical record at least until the patient reaches to age of 21 years.
The medical record of each patient shall be maintained and preserved, in original, microfilm, electronic or other similar form, for a period of at least ten (10) years following discharge or in the case of minors, the records shall be kept until three years after the age of majority has been attained.

In cases in which a hospital ceases operation, all medical records of patients shall be transferred as directed by the patient or authorized representative to the hospital or other health care facility or health care service to which the patient is transferred. All other medical records that have not reached the required time for destruction shall be stored to assure confidentiality and the Department shall be notified of the address where stored.

That adult's medical records will be kept for 10 years

The DC state also requires that minor's medical records will be kept until the minor becomes 21 years old.

Information source: Click here

This means hospitals and medical doctors in the State of DC can safely send X-ray films dated 2015 for adults and for minors born in or before 2004 to disposition.

Disclaimer: The information for retaining periods of x-ray films in DC, brought as courtesy for our x-ray silver recovery customers. the information was collected from DC 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.

HIPAA rule for disposing of x-ray films.

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 DC

Check other states retention period requirements below: