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Committee considers extending hospital medical-record retention to 26 years
Summary
House Bill 1394 would set a uniform 26-year retention period for hospital medical records, replacing the current adult/minor-specific schedules; UW Medicine and other major health systems testified in support citing storage costs and administrative burdens.
The House Health Care & Wellness Committee took public testimony on House Bill 1394, a measure to set a 26-year minimum retention period for hospital medical records.
Staff told the committee current law requires hospitals to retain adult records for 10 years after most recent discharge and pediatric records for three years after the patient turns 18 or 10 years after most recent discharge, whichever is later. HB 1394 would make the retention period 26 years from the date the record was created for both adults and minors; the bill would apply to records created on or after the bill's effective date and to records still in a hospital's custody on that date, but not to records already destroyed.
Sponsor testimony said the bill was brought forward by the University of Washington Medical System and the Washington State Health Information Management Association to streamline record-retention rules and reduce administrative cost. A sponsor said larger providers told the committee that incomplete historical discharge data sometimes prevented them from using existing disposal rules and that old paper files can cost institutions "about $750,000 per year" to store.
Hospital system representatives described operational challenges and proposed minor language tweaks. Rashi Gupta of UW Medicine said the bill would help when discharge dates are unclear, and Providence Health's Teddy McGuire described a requested amendment to clarify what constitutes a "medical record" inside a consolidated patient file so that providers are not required to retain an entire file until the last visit dates older than 26 years. Terry McDaniel of MultiCare said his system manages more than 145,000 boxes of health records and supported the 26-year period as reasonable.
Supporters framed HB 1394 as an efficiency and records-management reform; the committee heard no formal opposition during the public hearing but did note stakeholders sought technical clarifications. The hearing record shows ongoing discussions between providers and staff; no action or vote was taken at the hearing.
