?Protecting? Paper

In addition to helping with a fake newscast (http://blog.ortivusna.com/2009/10/want-faster-response-time-get-faster.html), and all the normal activities that occupy my time, earlier this month I attended a webinar put on by Page, Wolfberg & Wirth, LLC about the new breach notification rules. I’ve posted a couple of times about the new rules and was interested to see what the guys at PWW were thinking.

Here at Ortivus we have been pretty focused on the software implications of the rules. The webinar did address some of the software implications, but then also spent some time on the non-software implications. It is easy to miss the fact that the new rules also apply to paper documentation. And, according to the breach notification rules, the only way to secure paper is to destroy it.

Here’s a fun fact, there is a standard for Federal agencies that defines how small a paper shred must be to be considered destroyed. According to NIST Special publication 800-88 Guidelines for Media Sanitation, shredded documents are considered destroyed if a cross cut shredder is used that produces particles that are 1 x 5 millimeters in size. That’s pretty small.

Of course, even though the industry is continuing the move toward less paper through electronic claim transactions and electronic PCR’s there is still a lot of paper in storage at the average ambulance service or billing service.

This has lead some services to investigate digitizing of their paper for storage. In the past, digital document management systems have required significant investment into hardware and software, putting this solution out of reach for many providers. However, a number of companies have now begun providing this function as a web-based service with little or no investment in hardware and low monthly cost.

At Ortivus, we don’t directly supply any document scanning applications or services, but have worked with some customers who have taken the plunge. If you have an interest, we may be able to point you in the right direction.

Maybe you can have a paperless office, and gain back the space that is currently allocated to all those filing cabinets. Of course, as you scan those documents in, you better have a good shredder standing by to destroy that paper.