Accessible, Secure and Compliant Records Management for Legacy Patient Data

Individual patient records get printed on demand according to flexible print filters and/or pre-defined print templates. Templates can default to common record request types such as patient, attorney, payer or employer to ensure that compliant record sets are generated consistently and efficiently. Multiple record requests can even be generated in batch and/or by date range—a great feature for rapid compliance to bulk records requests (i.e., an audit).

Looking for a better way for caregivers to access archived electronic medical records? Rather than fielding requests for information from physicians at time of care, give them direct access right from the go-forward EMR. HealthData Archiver^® eliminates the need for manual physician login with single sign-on function right from the go-forward EMR (I.e., HealthData Archiver^® is live on the Epic App Orchard and other major EMR marketplaces). This feature offers complete, in-context access to historical patient records from the active EMR for quick, easy reference at time of treatment.

To ensure that data is migrated with accuracy and confirm that the archiving software functions as anticipated, Harmony Healthcare IT has integrated a simple communication tool within HealthData Archiver^® that allows a user to quickly and easily document and report questions or concerns during validation testing. This eliminates the manual spreadsheets and emails often associated with the validation reporting process— saving time and reducing errors.

1. Flexibility in the Purge Rules Engine – Allows HealthData Archiver^® to create, manage and allow for exceptions with purge rules. Criterion for record destruction might include date of last service, date of discharge, date of birth, document or data type (i.e., behavioral health), etc. Exceptions may include legal hold, RAC audit, clinical research or other similar situations which might prevent a medical record from being destroyed.
2. Automatic or Manual Purge Functionality – With automatic purge, the system will follow the purge rules created, identify the records that meet destruction criteria, and then queue the records for purge at a scheduled time. This automatic process happens without user intervention. Manual purging allows the user to dictate when the process will take place and which rules it will follow at that time.
3. Proof of Purge – Certificates of destruction are provided to show that a record was available at one point in HealthData Archiver^®. The certificate includes the reason as well as the date and time of the purge event (i.e., the record reached the ten-year retention period on 12/31/16 at 10:00amET).
4. Purge Delay and Un-Purging – Upon processing of a purge routine, a soft purge occurs. This means that the records are no longer visible in the archive, however, they are available to be un-purged for a user-defined period (i.e., the purge delay). Once the purge delay time has expired, the record is hard purged. A hard purge means that the records have been deleted from the archive per National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines.

Privacy and security for legacy health information data stored in an archive is as important as for active EHR records. Within HealthData Archiver^®, rights and activities can be restricted and audited by user, role, group, and data domain/source with built-in, role-based security and access controls. User audit logs are HIPAA-compliant and include the unique user ID, data subject ID, function performed, and date/time event was performed. With Third-Party Auditing Integration, unusual user activity may be monitored to prevent internal threats.

With the ability to assign patient records as Classified (employees, patient requests, domestic abuse, behavioral health), or Highly Classified (celebrities, government officials, athletes), even legacy ePHI stored in an active archive has an added layer of security and tracking. This specialized feature within HealthData Archiver^® includes the option for:

• A Client Administrator to add a gatekeeper who is responsible for managing Care Team Member access for highly classified patients.
• Extra security measures, including explicit auditing of user authentication, authorization, and data level access.
• End user access to privileged patient information only when necessary or in the event of an emergency, requiring that a reason to access the patient record be indicated.

Need to ensure late additions, errors or updates to a health record are accurately documented in the archive? HealthData Archiver^® includes strike-through, notes and addenda features. These features show how data was displayed in the source electronic medical record management system (pre-archive) and, subsequently, when it was changed or corrected (post-archive). This could be helpful if a result was erroneously recorded in the source electronic medical record management system, or if a document that should be part of the original legal record never got scanned pre-archive.