officers is that of storage and maintenance of health records with the limited
filling space in the hospital health records department, the bulging and bulky
of records, files, the health record officer is constrained to question the
value of keeping health records indefinitely and when records can be destroyed
if not so, retained Samuel (2004). Storage of health records present not only
problems if space, economy and efficiency, but also of correct atmosphere
conditions, accessibility and cleanliness. This is financial as well
as a
medical and administrative problem. Health record of the hospital out-patient
or in-patient usually should be retained for clinical and scientific purpose,
either in the original or a reproduce form for a long period after treatment
and discharge of death of the patient. The American Hospital Association (AHA)
had opined and suggested that in institutions in which the use of health
records for scientific purpose is limited and needs of the medical staff and
the interest of the patient would be adequately met and reported by the
retention of health record either in the original or reproduced form for period of substantially less than twenty five
years, then a ten years, retention period is considered a desirable minimum
after which the records may be destroyed except as may except as may be
specifically prohibited for legal purpose. With this in mind opinions differ
throughout the whole world among the health records, medical legal and administrative;
personal. But the health records officers have the best answer to give sine he
is the manager of the health record department. To overcome this problem, the
records officer must play a leadership role and also provide the guideline
towards the achievement of good storage and maintenance of health records
within the hospital or records should be controlled to ensure that a record can
be easily retrieved at any time, that any outstanding issues can be death with
and that there is an auditable trait of record transaction. Storage
accommodation for record should be clean, tidy, and secure to prevent damage to
the records and provide a safe working environment for staff. All equipment
used to store records should be safe, secure from unauthorized access and meet
health and safety, fire regulation, but also allow maximum accessibility of the
information commensurate with its frequency of use health, social services and
public safety.
