Why Should Hospitals at Hoboken Use a Shredding Service?
Hoboken is a small city in Hudson County, nestled in the state of New Jersey. The city is home to over 50,000 people. Previously, the city was a famous industrial port. Today, however, the city is revered amongst Americans for its nightlife, clubs, bars, and parks that offer views of the Manhattan skyline. It is one of the most densely populated cities in the USA.
Hospitals in Hoboken
There are 153 hospitals in and near Hoboken, New Jersey. Since Hoboken is a busy city and attracts a large number of tourists, the city’s hospitals receive a large number of patients on a daily basis. Now, at a time when the world is battling the Coronavirus pandemic, the inpatient hospital visits have tripled in number. It was reported that Hoboken University Medical Center, which has had the privilege of serving Americans during the Civil War, alone received over 100 Covid-19 positive patients daily.
Medical Records at Hospitals in Hoboken
Hospitals are required to maintain the medical records of all their patients for a certain period of time, usually 3 to 7 years. After which, the medical records should be safely disposed of to protect patient’s privacy and to honor doctor-patient confidentiality.
With such a high number of daily inpatient visits, the hospitals in Hoboken must be maintaining thousands of medical records on their computer databases, as well as in physical filing rooms. Since many medical records must be way past their validity date or must be nearing it, the hospitals in Hoboken need a professional shredding service to help them destroy the medical records.
Safe Shredding of Medical Records and X-Ray Destruction
It is important to safely shred all the expired medical records and perform safe X-ray destruction. Medical records contain every patient’s personal details like addresses, contact details, medical history, bank details if the hospital bills were paid through credit/ debit cards, and most importantly, the details of the treatments that they have received. Therefore, it becomes important to safely dispose of the medical records and protect patient’s privacy.
Medical records also contain X-rays and scans (ultrasound, MRI, etc.). X-ray films are toxic in nature. They should be destroyed with care because burning them or throwing them in landfills and oceans is harmful to the environment. The best solution for X-ray destruction is to shred them and send the waste to recycling plants.
X-Ray Destruction at New Jersey Shredding
At New Jersey Shredding, X-ray destruction is handled with expert care. We understand that X-ray films contain silver. It is a heavy metal that can contaminate soil and water bodies. Therefore, it becomes extremely important to shred the X-ray films and send them for recycling.
At New Jersey Shredding, X-ray films, scans, dental X-rays, and veterinary X-rays are collected from the hospitals and clinics in Hoboken, taken to an offsite location, and shredded into strips. It makes the X-rays and scans completely illegible and safe for recycling. All the work is done in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA). Once the waste has been safely delivered to recycling plants, we issue the hospitals and clinics a Certificate of Destruction as proof of safe X-ray destruction.
To help protect patient’s privacy, declutter the filing rooms and conserve our natural environment, it is important that hospitals in Hoboken use a professional shredding service like the New Jersey Shredding and safely dispose of medical records, including X-ray films.
