Any purge tool developed in the last 6 years?

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mowgli
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Any purge tool developed in the last 6 years?

Post by mowgli » Fri Feb 19, 2016 10:23 am

Looks like some sort of tool to purge old patients along with their transactions and especially OpenDentImages was last discussed here in 2010. Has any such tool been developed since that time?

bpcomp
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Re: Any purge tool developed in the last 6 years?

Post by bpcomp » Thu Feb 25, 2016 8:48 am

I hadn't thought about it before but this would be something useful to have and I'll second the question about it a tool could be made.

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jsalmon
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Re: Any purge tool developed in the last 6 years?

Post by jsalmon » Thu Feb 25, 2016 8:56 am

Is it useful to delete historical records because not even the IRS deems them valid? Why is getting rid of data useful? I could MAYBE see the purging of the images folder simply to save hard drive space but that still is (to me at least) important PHI.
The best thing about a boolean is even if you are wrong, you are only off by a bit.

Jason Salmon
Open Dental Software
http://www.opendental.com

bpcomp
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Re: Any purge tool developed in the last 6 years?

Post by bpcomp » Thu Feb 25, 2016 9:29 am

The requirements on keeping PHI vary from state to state as I understand but after 7 years in most places you are not required to keep records. In a paper office, you would destroy records older than 7 years and most people would argue it's a physical space reason but I'll make an additional argument limiting liability in an office. If there is a breach in your security, not only have you exposed all your active patients and have to deal with the fall out, but EVERY patient you have ever seen since the beginning of your practice. If your office has the records of 5000 patients that you haven't seen in for over 7 years, why would you want to hang on to those records? As a patient I find it hard to think why I would want a dentist I saw 10 years ago to be hanging onto their copy of my PHI. If the practice is bought and a new dentist comes in should they maintain the records of patients from the moment the practice went digital until that practice dies? It is very easy to conceive of my PHI being in a dental database that just keeps getting upgraded and hangs around for 200 years after I die. For this theoretical practice of the future, my PHI has absolutely zero utility but does come with the threat of additional liability since it is another patients records which could be exposed.

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jsalmon
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Re: Any purge tool developed in the last 6 years?

Post by jsalmon » Thu Feb 25, 2016 2:37 pm

When you put it that way I can't believe it isn't already feature request. Removing legal responsibility from myself / my practice would be my #1 priority if I were a doctor.
http://www.opendental.com/manual/featurerequests.html
The best thing about a boolean is even if you are wrong, you are only off by a bit.

Jason Salmon
Open Dental Software
http://www.opendental.com

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