Retention

Retention is where the keeper of a record decides what happens once it has been kept long enough. Every copy of a record has one keeper: the practice for its files, and you for the copies you hold — the copy you took when you left a practice, or one a clinician sent you. Nothing is deleted on its own.

Each keeper has one box: the number of years a record is kept after the patient's last entry, from 1 year to 100 years. Your copies is your own number, and it applies on every device you sign in on. The practice's copy is the practice's number; only a practice owner types it, and a member sees it without changing it. There is no default anywhere: nothing is flagged until a number is typed.

Records past your retention period lists each patient whose last entry is older than a period you decide for, with the keeper named on the line. Keep… puts the record on hold with a reason, which goes into the audit trail; Review again lists it once more. Delete… asks you to type DELETE. On this computer the record is destroyed, its keys and its entries. The practice's Delete removes the file for everyone in the practice — a copy someone took when they left, or was sent, stays theirs — and your Delete on a copy removes that copy alone. If the sync server refuses a choice for good, the line says so in the server's words. A deletion cannot be undone.

Retention is managed on your computer, where the records are kept; a phone or browser shows only a notice here.