What Happens to Records & Documents After They Leave Your Office?

You are a doctor's office seeing patients and collecting confidential information from them such as medical history, social security number, date of birth, and more, or you're an accounting firm collecting some of the same sensitive information from your clients, including bank statements, account numbers, etc., and while a lot of information is stored electronically, you may have paper files from years of storage. After the retention period, you're ready to safely dispose of your client or patients' personal records and documents.

Protecting personal data and confidential information about you, your business, your clients, or your patients is not only good practice, but it's also the law. Knowing what to do with these files, records, statements, receipts, etc. and what happens to them after they leave your facility is important because you remain responsible for the proper handling and final disposal. Shredding is the most secure and convenient way to dispose of confidential documents and files. It keeps you HIPAA compliant and ensures no unauthorized use of that personal information.

You've contacted a reputable and trusted records management company like BWS to handle your shredding needs. So, what happens next? What happens to the records and documents? A records and document shredding company like BWS may offer a purge/one-time cleanout service, or if needed, an ongoing console pick-up service. Here are the differences:

One-time Cleanout Service

If you have a large number of boxes stored with old records or documents, a one-time cleanout service may be the best option for disposal. These may be at your storage facility or in filing cabinets at your office. With BWS, we collect information at the time of your request, such as:

• Number of boxes
• Where the boxes are located
• Are x-rays included or separate (if any) so they can go to the appropriate recycler
• Are the boxes at ground level
• Are special access and/or hours required

Once all of the information about your pick-up is collected, the pick-up is scheduled!

On-going Console Scheduled Pick Up Service

Oftentimes, many healthcare facilities or businesses with routine access to confidential information producing paper documents require regularly scheduled pick-ups of this paper waste. For this type of service, you'll need a secure receptacle to collect the paper waste and ongoing scheduled pick-ups based on frequency needs and volume. BWS offers flexible schedules for ongoing route-based pick-ups.

Now that your records and documents are getting picked up either as a one-time cleanout or ongoing routine pick-ups, the next steps are safe and secure transport back to a shredding facility. While BWS has been shredding records at its processing facility located in Baltimore, MD for many years, in early 2021, they installed an industrial-sized shredder increasing its volume capacity to handle shred pick-ups of all sizes, all types.

Once the sensitive documents and records are transported to the processing facility, they are now ready to be shredded. The paper is loaded into the shredder at which time it's destroyed to a small particle size that ensures security expectations. After shredding, the particles may be bailed or some other method that prepares it for final recycling. BWS partners with recycling companies that will take the shredded particles and repurpose them into something new! Your once credit card statement or patient health chart may now be a paper cup!

Shredding with BWS to Manage Confidential Documents and Personal Information

Maintaining privacy and your company's reputation is important. That's why partnering with a professional who understands regulations and how to properly manage sensitive documents will help keep you HIPAA compliant. It will also give you peace of mind knowing your patients' or clients' personal information is handled securely. Here at Biomedical Waste Services, Inc. (BWS), we have over 45 years of experience safely collecting, transporting, and disposing of sensitive waste such as patient records and client documentation for a variety of industries in the mid-Atlantic area, including Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C., Delaware, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. As a proud member of the Healthcare Waste Institute, a nationally recognized agency centered around responsible healthcare waste management practices, we are committed to providing our customers with secure, reliable records shredding management services they can count on and that are environmentally sustainable. Call or contact us today to get started.

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