A-1 shredding follows all HIPAA Compliance Regulations, and we have the equipment necessary to confidentially, and securely destroy all medical records. We take pride in our work and stand by it 100%.
HIPAA Compliance
HIPAA privacy and secure document disposal is professional, efficient, confidential, and available to companies throughout Arizona. Nursing homes and hospitals must follow the set guidelines for the disposal of medical records, and must therefore hire an adequate shredding company to shred their medical records. A-1 Shredding will gladly provide any company with a free quote for the proper disposal of old or outdated medical records.
Our services aren’t free, and that’s because we guarantee the HIPAA compliance privacy requirements will be met. As you’ll see, nursing homes, hospitals, and medical facilities are required to dispose of these items by either shredding or burning to ensure the HIPAA requirement has been satisfied.
What are the Requirements?
The US Department of Health and Safety has requirements that must be met when it comes to protecting the safety of one’s identity and personally identifiable information (PII). As mentioned in the Office for Civil Rights, covered entities must implement reasonable safeguards to limit incidental, and avoid prohibited, uses and disclosures of Medical Records PHI, including in connection with the disposal of such information.
In addition, the Medical HIPAA Security Rule requires that covered entities implement policies and procedures to address the final disposition of electronic Medical Records PHI and/or the hardware or electronic media on which it is stored, as well as to implement procedures for removal of electronic PHI from electronic media before the media are made available for re-use. Further, covered entities must ensure that their workforce members receive training on and follow the disposal policies and procedures of the covered entity, as necessary and appropriate for each workforce member.
What Does Proper Disposal Mean?
For example, depending on the circumstances, proper disposal methods may include (but are not limited to):
- Shredding or otherwise destroying PHI in paper records so that the PHI is rendered essentially unreadable, indecipherable, and otherwise cannot be reconstructed prior to it being placed in a dumpster or other trash receptacle.
- Maintaining PHI for disposal in a secure area and using a disposal vendor as a business associate to pick up and shred or otherwise destroy the PHI.
- In justifiable cases, based on the size and the type of the covered entity, and the nature of the PHI, depositing PHI in locked dumpsters that are accessible only by authorized persons, such as appropriate refuse workers.
- For PHI on electronic media, clearing (using software or hardware products to overwrite media with non-sensitive data), purging (degaussing or exposing the media to a strong magnetic field in order to disrupt the recorded magnetic domains), or destroying the physical device.
A-1 Shredding makes this process simple since we already have the training, certification, and equipment to properly process and discard these items.
