| Course | HI135 Legal Aspects of Health Information |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 5 |
| Paper type | Retention schedule |
| Length | About 880 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Health Information Management |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HI135 Unit 5
Slides for Ten Years, Blocks for Two, Requisitions for Two: A Unit 5 Retention Schedule for a Composite Hospital's Laboratory and Pathology Department, With the Federal Rule Behind Every Row
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HI135: Legal Aspects of Health Information
Unit 5 Retention Schedule
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The hospital, its laboratory and its choices are composite; the federal retention periods, the destruction standards and the rules cited are real.
Scope
Covers records and materials of the hospital's clinical laboratory, blood bank and anatomic pathology service. The laboratory holds a federal certificate and is subject to the laboratory regulations' record retention requirements (42 C.F.R. § 493.1105, 2024). Where the hospital's state sets a longer period for any item, the longer period applies; the hospital's counsel reviews this schedule against state law each year. Patient medical records outside the laboratory follow the hospital's main schedule.
The Schedule
Each row gives record type, retention, starting event, authority, destruction method and approver.
1. Test requisitions and authorizations: 2 years; from the date of the test; laboratory regulations; shredding by contracted vendor with certificate; laboratory manager.
2. Clinical laboratory test reports, other than pathology: 2 years in the laboratory's own records; from the date of reporting; laboratory regulations. The report also lives in the patient's medical record, which follows the hospital's longer schedule. Approver: laboratory manager.
3. Quality control, calibration and instrument maintenance records: 2 years; from the date of the record; laboratory regulations; shredding or secure deletion; laboratory manager.
4. Proficiency testing records: 2 years; from completion; laboratory regulations; shredding; laboratory director.
5. Cytology slides: 5 years; from the date of examination; laboratory regulations; incineration through the medical waste vendor; pathology director.
6. Histopathology slides: 10 years; from the date of examination; laboratory regulations; incineration; pathology director.
7. Paraffin tissue blocks: the federal minimum is 2 years from examination. The hospital keeps them 10 years, a facility choice explained below. Incineration; pathology director.
8. Pathology test reports: 10 years in the laboratory's retrievable records; from the date of reporting; laboratory regulations; secure deletion; pathology director.
9. Blood bank and transfusion records: as required by the federal blood product regulations, which for this hospital means at least 10 years; from completion of the record; authority cross-referenced in the laboratory rule; secure deletion; blood bank medical director.
10. Signed authorizations and privacy documentation for laboratory releases: 6 years; from the later of creation or last effective date; the privacy rule's documentation requirement (45 C.F.R. § 164.530, 2024); shredding; privacy officer.
11. Records under legal hold: suspended until released by counsel, whatever the row above says.
The shortest federal period in the schedule, two years for blocks, is the one the hospital deliberately overrides.
Why Blocks Are Kept Longer Than Required
Paraffin blocks are the only material from which new tests can be run years later, including molecular tests for tumor markers that did not exist when the tissue was removed. A patient whose cancer recurs eight years after surgery may need the original block tested. The cost of storage is modest compared with the cost to that patient of a block destroyed at two years. The hospital therefore keeps blocks for ten years and records the choice in the schedule so that a later manager does not mistake it for an error.
Destruction
Paper is shredded by a contracted vendor that provides a certificate listing dates and volumes. Glass slides and blocks go to the medical waste vendor for incineration. Electronic records are deleted using the information systems department's sanitization procedure, which follows federal guidance on media sanitization (Kissel et al., 2014). Every destruction is logged with the record type, date range, method, vendor certificate number and approver. Nothing under legal hold is destroyed.
Requests for Old Material
Requests for slides and blocks come from three directions, and the schedule shapes how each is handled. Treating physicians at other hospitals ask for slides or blocks for a second opinion or for molecular testing; these are lent under a tracking log that records what left, where it went and when it must come back, because the hospital remains responsible for material it is required to keep. Patients ask for their pathology reports, which they are entitled to receive like any other part of their record, and for their slides, which the department provides through their physician rather than mailing glass to a home address. Attorneys ask for blocks in litigation, and those requests go to counsel and usually trigger a legal hold on the patient's material.
When a Period Ends
Nothing is destroyed automatically. Each quarter, the laboratory information system produces a list of material that has passed its retention date. The pathology director reviews the list for cases under legal hold, cases flagged by clinicians for possible future testing and any material from patients enrolled in research studies with longer requirements. Only after that review is the destruction batch approved and logged. This step costs a few hours a quarter and prevents the most common retention error in laboratories, destroying material that a hold or a study still covers.
Review
The laboratory manager and privacy officer review the schedule each January and after any change in federal laboratory rules, state law or the hospital's accreditation requirements.
References
42 C.F.R. § 493.1105 (2024). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/section-493.1105
45 C.F.R. § 164.530 (2024). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/section-164.530
Kissel, R., Regenscheid, A., Scholl, M., & Stine, K. (2014). Guidelines for media sanitization (NIST Special Publication 800-88, Rev. 1). National Institute of Standards and Technology. https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-88r1
The Purdue Global HI135 Unit 5 instructions
Unit 5 typically asks you to build a retention schedule for a facility or department. Define the scope, including the jurisdiction whose rules apply. For each record type, give the retention period, the event that starts the clock, the specific authority, the destruction method and the person who approves destruction. Cite the governing rules by name or section rather than referring to the law in general. Address records under legal hold. Explain any choice to keep records longer than required. Describe destruction methods for paper, electronic media and physical materials, and how destruction is documented. Most submissions use a grid for the rows and a few paragraphs for destruction and review, and many sections ask for a review cycle.
Inside the HI135 Unit 5 example
The schedule begins with a scope statement naming the department, its federal certificate and the rule that longer state periods prevail. Eleven numbered rows follow, from requisitions to privacy documentation, each with period, start, authority, method and approver, plus a legal hold override. A highlighted line flags the block override, explained in its own section and annotated in the margin. Requests for old material covers loans, patients and attorneys. A quarterly destruction review is described next, followed by destruction methods citing federal sanitization guidance and an annual review. Each row is written so a manager could carry out destruction from the schedule alone.
Where the points sit in the HI135 Unit 5 rubric
Retention schedules in HI 135 are usually graded on accuracy and completeness. Points go to correct periods tied to cited authorities, with the starting event stated for each. Credit increases for complete coverage of the record types in scope and for destruction methods matched to media. Instructors value explicit treatment of legal holds and reasoned decisions to exceed minimums. A documented destruction process with approvals shows operational understanding. Clear tables and precise citations complete the rubric. Schedules that list periods without authorities, or that apply one period to everything, generally lose points. A destruction process that requires review before anything is discarded tends to earn extra credit, since it shows the schedule working in practice.
Common HI135 Unit 5 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Students frequently give a retention period without saying when the clock starts, which makes the period impossible to apply. Another common error is citing state law generally rather than the specific rule. Remember that a record under legal hold is kept regardless of its period. Do not confuse the laboratory's own copy of a result with the copy in the patient's chart, which may follow a different schedule. Explain any period longer than required so it is not mistaken for an error. If your scenario names a facility and state, send it and we will build the schedule with authorities for every row. Keep the starting event visible in every row.
Get an HI135 Unit 5 example written to your instructions
Tell us the state your Unit 5 scenario sits in, then send the instructions and rubric as posted. A custom schedule is written against that state's rules with every authority named, and your first one is free. Turnaround is 24-48h. If your instructor supplied a list of record types, include it so the rows match. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
More HI135 papers and BS in Health Information Management samples
- HI135 Unit 1: Discussion Board Post
- HI135 Unit 2: Authorization Review
- HI135 Unit 3: Release of Information Case
- HI135 Unit 4: Privacy Notice Comparison
- HI135 Unit 6: Seminar Reflection
- HI135 Unit 7: Amendment Response Letter
- HI135 Unit 8: Breach Notification Memo
- HI135 Unit 9: Disclosure Log Entry
- HI135 Unit 10: Privacy Policy Draft
HI135 Unit 5 questions, answered
Do electronic records follow a different schedule from paper?
The period usually follows the record's content, not its format, so an electronic discharge summary and a scanned one sit on the same row. What differs is destruction. The example gives paper and electronic media separate methods, since shredding and secure deletion leave different evidence, and it notes that backups hold copies the main destruction step does not reach.
Is a litigation hold really part of a retention schedule?
In the finished example it is, as a standing line that overrides every period above it. A record due for destruction next month is generally kept once litigation involving it is known or reasonably anticipated. Schedules that omit the hold imply destruction proceeds regardless, which is the reading a rubric in this course is most likely to penalize.
Where can I find a free HI135 Unit 5 sample paper?
The complete Unit 5 laboratory and pathology retention schedule, with authorities and destruction methods, can be read here.
Do electronic records follow a different retention period from paper?
Usually not. The period follows the content of the record; what differs is the destruction method, such as secure deletion instead of shredding.
Can a facility keep records longer than the law requires?
Yes, and it should say why, as this hospital does for paraffin blocks that may be needed for future testing.