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There are usually state laws governing the keeping of medical records. They usually require the doctor to be able to provide copies of records and keep the original file for a specified period, often 5 years for adults and longer for children. If one is confident that their electronic system will be able to spit out copies then the paper chart is no longer necessary and you can discard it immediately.

Many organizations store the paper chart for at least the time mandated by law, mostly because they chose not to scan the entire paper chart so need the hard copy to meet their legal obligations if the complete record is requested.

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14y ago

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