> I was told the requirement in Texas and some other
> states is "life of
> the patient plus  20" so you might have different
> requirements
> depending on where the Health Organization is
> headquartered.

Yep, and then when the organization changes hands,
hope that the records are indexed well enough that
they'll be able to know what they have and how long
they've had it and need to keep it =)  But then again,
this IS Texas we're talking about...

> Plus there is an issue of the longevity of the
> strips as the folded
> type tend to bleed from strip to strip when kept in
> a humid warehouse
> and the strips begin to stick to themselves over
> longer requirements.

Humidity IS a concern for these, but heat is a greater
concern.  The "wet ink" type (recorded using a stylus
on regular paper with a graphed background) are
affected even more by humididty because they use a
water-based ink.

Same is true for any water-based ink records actually,
which is why it's important to ask your commercial
storage provider about the temperature and humidity
conditions in their facility, and ask to see if they
have records for a year (or more) when you're
evaluating providers.  Naturally, this is less
critical for two year records, but few companies send
short retention records off to storage.

Larry

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