hmust1 Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 Sorry, new supervisor question... :-)How long do we need to keep the panel sheets that were part of identifying an antibody? I'm talking about the actual panel pages (out of the panel reagent boxes) that have the phases and reactions hand-written on them.I'm confused what needs kept for 5 years vs. indefinitely.Thanks for any help!Heather Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lcsmrz Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 I don't think there is a requirement for archiving completed panel sheets more than five years, as long as the interpretation is available longer. But we all do it ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John C. Staley Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 I keep the panel sheets for 5 years. That's the interpretation of the regulations made by our QA group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcurrie Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 My advice: keep the panels. They may come in handy when a patient develops a new antibody 10 years later. This policy has helped me many times.BC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John C. Staley Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 But Bob things have changed since you left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Olsen Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 Since CAP requires Clinically significant antibodies to be kept indefinately, I error on the side of caution!! I keep the panels for two years in house and then send them off to the archive warehouse til the moths eat them! I know this is over kill since all the information is in the computer. But those of us who are older don't always trust that computers are not going to crash and our back-up tape will be nowhere to be found and and and......However, I would agree that for those more trusting individuals - 5 years would be adequate as long as you had a permanent record of the identification somewhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcurrie Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 But Bob things have changed since you left. They sure have, John- now I am dealing with the FRA instead of the FDA. BC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabel Adams Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Our panel sheets have outlived at least 3 computer systems. Sometimes there is detail there not available in the computers. I still have panels from the 1970s in our files--and sometimes we get a patient that hasn't been in again since then. This community has a very stable population. We have space for this degree of overkill, but I agree that 5 yrs is adequate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johna Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Food for thought! The CAP Transfusion Medicine checklist TRM.32250 indicates that patient records should be retained for 10 years. Are not these antigrams considered "patient records"? What else would they be? The only mention of a 5 year retention period concerns quality control and retyping of donor unit records. heathervaught 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathleenSL Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 We keep antibody workup files/panel sheets on site for a minimum of 10 years. Those files that have been inactive for 10 years are moved to off site storage where they are currently being kept indefinitely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntilla Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 We keep the antibody panel records for a minimum of ten years. I have been the supervisor for five years now and when disposing patient records (not testing logs), pertaining to completed transfusion bagtags, we keep any documents pertaining to antibody patients. We are still very much paper dependent and maintain disposition logs for all products. I feel that ten years is appropriate provided that a blood bank system or card file history is available on those patients with allo/auto antibodies. Barr Antilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda0623 Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 ok.....here's a 2yr follow-up question if I ever suspected one.....We are looking at reducing/making more efficien/eliminating archived storage of paper records among the entire organization. HIM is leading the way with EMR, and are currently scanning all the backlog of patient medical records that the hospital has....My question is this....I have a donor room in addition to the normal transfusion records kept by most hospital blood banks.....if I were to scan these documents that are supposed to be held indefinitely, can the paper be destroyed? Or, does it only allow me the flexibility to shift records to archived storage offsite sooner? Does it depend on the record type? The hospital has been told that their chosen system is acceptable per joint commission to allow for them to destroy the old records once they have been scanned to the EMR(we would create our own indexed files, not add these documents to any EMR).......Does that apply to us? Can anyone tell me if they are doing this and how inspectors feel about their process? and lastly, is there any specific regs about this that anyone can point me towrd???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Needs ☆ Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 (edited) In the UK, we have to keep such records for a minimum of 13 years (because of the limit on the time people are allowed to sue us) but I think most records are kept longer than that.Our accrediting agencies (and, therefore, the lawyers and Government) are happy if we microfiche (or however you spell it - spelling not being my best subject when I was at school, and has got worse since) the records or put them on CD-ROM, and then destroy the originals. The records on the microfiche or CD-ROMs are then sent for secure storage. If the secure storage area then burns down, then, hey, accidents happen, and even lawyers accept that! Edited June 6, 2009 by Malcolm Needs I STILL can't spell!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janet Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 I thought we had permanent storage of our antigrams in Meditech (it was so handy to print a patient's panel from years ago and compare it to reactions we were getting today.) I now realize we were one of the few using this feature, as Meditech decided not to move it forward into the 5.6 update. Seems bizarre that a computer system would not work toward keeping and making it easier for facilities using their system to have easy, permanent access to this important patient information.I am wondering if any others in this same predicament would share how they plan to move forward and how they plan to explain years of missing antibody work-ups if asked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Hard or soft copies my reply is ...... forever. No limit is set, it could be a child or an elder so....you have the life span of humans involved in this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabel Adams Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 I don't think you have to keep the antigrams--just a record of antibodies and compatibility problems. Most of us do keep the antigrams to refer back to, but I don't think it is required as long as you have the antibody ID etc. in the patient's BB records. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollyredone Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 I had asked a question a while back about how long you had to keep records on patients with antibodies after they had passed away. No clear answer, so I'll ask again-anybody? Is it state dependent (how long you can be sued)? Do we assume heaven might want to check on their antibody status at some point?? thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now