Medical Center and Womack Army Medical Center. MEDCENs are usually teaching
hospitals.
(1) Teaching hospitals. A teaching hospital provides advanced training such as
the training of interns and residents. In a MEDCEN or teaching hospital, Inpatient
Treatment Records are maintained five years after the year of disposition (the treatment
year). ITRs are:
(a) Held for five years after the year of disposition.
(b) Retired after the five-year holding period.
Example:
Treatment Year
= 1993
Holding Years
= 1994, 1995, 1996,1997, 1998
Date of Retirement
= January 1999
(2) Nonteaching hospitals. Medical treatment facilities having no official training
program are classified as nonteaching hospitals. In a nonteaching hospital, ITRs are:
(a) Held for one full year after the year of disposition (the treatment year).
(b) Retired after the one-year holding period (unless the patient has been
readmitted).
Example:
Treatment Year
= 1993
Holding Year
= 1994
Date of Retirement
= 1995
e. Retrieval of Records from Storage.
(1) When medical records (to include ITRs) are retired, they are sent to a
repository (storage area) in St. Louis, Missouri.
(2) To retrieve retired records from the repository, a physician must advise PAD
of the need for the record. PAD, in turn, must send a written request to St. Louis. After the
record is no longer needed, it is returned to the repository in St. Louis. If required
indefinitely, the record may be retained; however, written notification must be sent to the
repository.
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