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Document Retention Guidelines: Document Destruction Policy

Are you confused about document retention guidelines, document destruction policies and things of the like? What exactly are document retention guidelines and how are they best followed and implemented? Cornerstone will help you establish the right document retention and destruction policies and practices for your company so that it is fully compliant with the law and it doesn't pay to retain documents longer than necessary.

For your convenience, you may download our most recent standard Records Retention Guide. It is important to note that this is a general guide and that each company's document retention guidelines must be determined individually. The document retention guidelines and document destruction policies one company follows might be completely different from another s.

Below we briefly describe several new federal laws and their requirements as they pertain to establishing and following document retention guidelines and more. Use the links for more information on these new laws.

Who is affected?	Documents covered	Law
All businesses	Consumer reports and identifying information	Fair & Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA)
Health care providers	Patient medical records	Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA)
Financial institutions	Consumer identifying and credit records	Gramm Leach Bliley (GLB)
Publicly held businesses and accounting firms	Accounting audit and working papers	Sarbanes Oxley (SOX)

FACTA
Effective June 2005, this law requires businesses that collect customer information to ensure that the information is protected from "unauthorized access or use." In addition, the Disposal Rule requires that when such information is discarded, it must be appropriately destroyed by shredding, burning or pulverizing. The federal government's website states that "although the Disposal Rule applies to consumer reports and the information derived from consumer reports, the Federal Trade Commission encourages those who dispose of any records containing a consumer's personal or financial information to take similar protective measures."

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
This 1996 law and the accompanying 2002 regulation known as the Privacy Rule restrict how health care providers may handle and disclose patient health information. In general, health care entities must ensure that only approved personnel handle protected health information and then only for purposes specified in the law and regulation. Cornerstone can help your business comply with these document retention guidelines and associated requirements by:

Storing protected health information using our professional data protection services in a secure commercial records center.
Storing electronic files on our secure servers.
Signing a business associate agreement with your medical practice to limit your liability for stored health information
Destroying inactive medical records in accord with state medical society guidance and in compliance with HIPAA regulations.
Converting paper medical files to encrypted electronic files to:

Save office space.
Provide easy access to records.
Limit access only to individuals you provide with designated passwords and encryption software.

Gramm Leach Bliley
This 1999 law requires financial institutions and businesses that receive personal information in the course of conducting their business to establish safeguards for the handling and disclosure of that information. Cornerstone can help your business comply with this law by:

Storing sensitive hard copy information in our secure commercial records center.
Storing sensitive electronic documents on our secure servers.
Limiting access to sensitive information only to individuals you approve in advance.
Shredding and recycling discarded documents including sensitive paper documents and electronic media to prevent identity theft.

Sarbanes Oxley
This 2002 legislation creates new requirements for businesses and accountants to maintain corporate audit records or review working papers for 5 years beyond the year in which an audit is concluded. The new law also creates penalties for destroying or altering documents that are relevant to contemplated or ongoing investigations or official actions. Cornerstone can help businesses and accounting firms and their clients comply with the law by:

Establishing document retention guidelines that include retention and destruction schedules for audit documents that comply with federal law
Storing audit records off site to limit the potential for tampering or inappropriate destruction
Creating electronic versions of paper records to provide "backups" of original documents in the event the originals are inadvertently lost, altered, or destroyed.

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