Specialty Services: Secure Storage and Destruction of Your Medical Records

While many of the businesses we manage record storage and shredding for are dealing primarily with paper records, we recognize the Augusta, GA area has a wide variety of medical service providers who may keep charts and medical records in a variety of other formats. When it comes time to archive the files in off-site storage or purge old and outdated records, additional steps need to be taken to help maintain the integrity of these records throughout the remainder of their useful life and ensure that they are securely and properly destroyed when they are no longer needed.

Handling Storage of Medical Records

Whether your patient files are full of paper charts or they include x-ray film, tapes, or digital archives, we can provide a unique storage solution to fit your needs. Our facilities boast an impressive combined footprint of over 125,000 sq.ft. of storage space which includes sections of NARA compliant secure storage, and a climate-controlled vault. These specialty conditions allow Augusta Data Storage to store a wide variety of information throughout our facility such as heat or humidity sensitive items, and items that require specific storage conditions for safety and security.

In addition to specialty secure storage, we also offer 24/7 retrieval access for your records in our facility, which means you have access to these files when you need them. When records come into our storage facility they are sorted, barcoded, and scanned into our system which enables us to find their exact location within our warehouse to ensure timely delivery to your medical office.

Secure Destruction of Medical Records

It’s no secret that HIPAA has strict requirements when it comes to handling medical records, and this includes how they are destroyed. Secure shredding of medical records does not just mean passing them through your office shredder. At Augusta Data Storage our destruction cycle has several features which help improve the overall security of our NAID-AAA Certified process:

• Secure collection containers ensure that your items are protected from the time they are deposited into the container until they are picked up for shredding.
• Secure destruction occurs either at your location via our mobile shred unit, which is locked, or via our restricted access shred plant.
• Certificates of Destruction are provided as a record of secure shredding of your items. The certificate includes a date and list of items to be shredded so that you can keep them on file as a record of compliance.

Our secure shredding process isn’t just restricted to paper records. Through our e-waste destruction program, we are also able to accept your medical tapes, old hard drives and storage devices for digital records, CD-ROMs, and more. Additionally, our plant-based shredding operation can handle modern day x-rays on plastic film, giving you more expansive options for destruction of your medical records. Finally, if you find yourself in possession of older medical x-rays that might contain silver or other particles, we can assist you in locating a secure destruction solution that removes the silver and ensures its handled properly to avoid injury or environmental harm.

An additional benefit of our secure shredding processes, whether for paper, e-waste, or film records, is that we participate in a zero-landfill recycling process that ensure all of your purged records are securely destroyed and then recycled, keeping them out of landfills and reducing environmental impact of creating new paper and plastic goods.

Finding a Secure Storage and Shredding Partner

If you are shopping secure storage or shredding solutions, why not consider a local business that can house all your needs under one roof? At Augusta Data Storage, our comprehensive records management and destruction services allow you to take advantage of our off-site storage for as long as you need it, and then simply purge your records from our storage facilities at the end of their useful life. You can even setup a purge schedule for your items based on the state requirements for medical records retention, if you’d like to simply the process even further.

[Disclaimer: This article is not intended as legal advice. Should you need legal advice regarding document retention and secure shredding polices, please seek the appropriate legal counsel.]