Hid:
Per the Virginia Code section D below, you can designate the electronic copy as the official record and destroy the scanned paper, unless specifically prohibited by law. Since they are mandating across the country that medical records become EMR’s (electronic
medical record), I’ve not seen anything in Virginia law that mandates you need to retain the paper copy once it has been reformatted. HIPPA does not address this issue specifically, but as long as the case file is available in its entirety in electronic form
HIPPA does not seem to care what form the record is in.
§ 8.01-391. Copies of originals as evidence.
A. Whenever the original of any official publication or other record has been filed in an action or introduced as evidence, the court may order the original to be returned to its custodian, retaining in its stead a copy thereof. The court may make any order
to prevent the improper use of the original.
B. If any department, division, institution, agency, board, or commission of this Commonwealth, of another state or country, or of the United States, or of any political subdivision or agency of the same, acting pursuant to the law of the respective jurisdiction
or other proper authority, has copied any record made in the performance of its official duties, such copy shall be as admissible into evidence as the original, whether the original is in existence or not, provided that such copy is authenticated as a true
copy either by the custodian of said record or by the person to whom said custodian reports, if they are different, and is accompanied by a certificate that such person does in fact have the custody.
C. If any court or clerk's office of a court of this Commonwealth, of another state or country, or of the United States, or of any political subdivision or agency of the same, has copied any record made in the performance of its official duties, such copy
shall be admissible into evidence as the original, whether the original is in existence or not, provided that such copy is authenticated as a true copy by a clerk or deputy clerk of such court.
D. If any business or member of a profession or calling in the regular course of business or activity has made any record or received or transmitted any document, and again in the regular course of business has caused any or all of such record or document
to be copied, the copy shall be as admissible in evidence as the original, whether the original exists or not, provided that such copy is satisfactorily identified and authenticated as a true copy by a custodian of such record or by the person to whom said
custodian reports, if they be different, and is accompanied by a certificate that said person does in fact have the custody. Copies in the regular course of business shall be deemed to include reproduction at a later time, if done in good faith and without
intent to defraud. Copies in the regular course of business shall include items such as checks which are regularly copied before transmission to another person or bank, or records which are acted upon without receipt of the original when the original is retained
by another party.
The original of which a copy has been made may be destroyed in the regular course of business unless its preservation is required by law, or its validity has been questioned.
E. The introduction in an action of a copy under this section neither precludes the introduction or admission of the original nor the introduction of a copy or the original in another action.
F. Copy, as used in this section, shall include photographs, microphotographs, photostats, microfilm, microcard, printouts or other reproductions of electronically stored data, or copies from optical disks, electronically transmitted facsimiles, or any other
reproduction of an original from a process which forms a durable medium for its recording, storing, and reproducing.
(Code 1950, §§ 8-266, 8-267, 8-268, 8-278, 8-279, 8-279.1, 8-279.2; 1950, pp. 604, 640; 1954, c. 333; 1968, c. 723; 1972, cc. 441, 549, 645, 786; 1973, c. 177; 1977, cc. 532, 617; 1978, c. 75; 1979, c. 447; 1989, c. 212; 1990, c. 355; 1991, c. 145; 1992,
c. 393; 2000, c.
334.)
From: Virginia Records Officer's Listserv [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of hid
Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2012 2:56 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Electronic Health Records
You are receiving this e-mail as a subscriber to the Virginia Records Officer Listserv (VA-ROL). # #
We are currently in the process of copying our medical records into an Electronic Health Records system. We are scanning current records and attaching them to the specific client’s
record in the database, organized in folders based on the documentation content/function. (i.e. ISPs, Quarterlies, Financial, Assessments…etc.).
I am new to records management and have been trying to determine whether scanning records into the database allows us then to shred the paper documentation, or whether we are required
to continue to maintain, all or part of the medical record IAW current records retention schedules.
Can someone steer me in the proper direction to where I might find the answer? Any information you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you - hid
H. I. Deslauriers
Administrative Services Manager
Southside Community Services
424 Hamilton Boulevard
South Boston, Virginia 24592
434-572-6916 (x301)
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