Preserving confidential records is often more important than destroying them.

Nick Belveal, director of health information management services at the Wyoming Medical Center in Casper, said state law generally requires medical records to be preserved for 10 years, or in the case of a minor, 10 years past the age of majority. After that, most can be destroyed.

"We don't do that," he said. "We've microfilmed records for as long as the hospital's been in existence."

After the 10-year period, however, some pruning does occur. Routine nursing notes, recording a patient's blood pressure and the like, probably can be destroyed. But records that might be pertinent to a patient's care in the future are retained.

For example, if a patient has a surgery while in the hospital, such information could be relevant to a future course of treatment and thus would be preserved, Belveal said.

Despite electronic communications, the hospital still generates a considerable volume of paper records.

"Right now, the paper record is still created on the floors in the hospital," Belveal said.

After a patient is discharged, his or her records are scanned and preserved in electronic form. After 90 days, the paper records can be destroyed.

But Belveal said this process applies only to records from October 2006 forward. Prior to that time, the records are paper.

Eventually, the goal is to implement a paperless system. Belveal said this will enhance the integrity of patient records since some types of paper don't hold ink over time and records sometimes fade away completely.

Records also are more secure when stored in electronic form, he said: "If I have people going into the file and pulling records off the shelf and reading them, you don't have a record of them doing that."

But when someone views an electronic file, that action can be noted down to the page, he said.

Business Editor Tom Mast can be reached at tom.mast@casperstartribune.net, or call 307-266-0574.