Keeping years’ worth of x-rays in your office not only causes needless clutter, it can compromise patient privacy. Most offices are not set up to keep their records under lock and key. Instead, current files are kept within sight of authorized staff, while old ones are left to gather dust in a back room. Still, you may wonder what else you can do. After all, throwing the films away allows them to be looked through by all and sundry.
Secure X-ray shredding is the answer to this problem. A recycling firm that specializes in handling medical records has the training and qualifications to meet HIPAA guidelines for patient privacy. They also have all of the equipment needed to efficiently destroy the obsolete x-rays they receive. Not only that, such shredders have another motivation to be quick about their work: cash. The silver in x-ray film is worth money.
When you use an X-ray film recycler to take care of your disposal needs, you and your office will benefit in several ways:
- Your office will earn cash. The secure shredding company pays you a portion of the silver value of your old films.
- Privacy will be maintained. Since the silver in the x-ray films is worth money, you can be sure the shredding company is not going to leave them in some pile behind their plant. They’ll shred those films as soon as they can.
- You’ll help the environment. Shredding x-ray films keeps silver out of the waste stream. The paper left over after silver separation is sent to paper recycling plants.
- Classic X-ray film isn’t the only kind of photographic paper handled by secure shredding companies. Industrial and NDE x-rays, standard photographic paper, lithographic film and more can also be processed.
- You’ll get rid of the clutter of obsolete medical records. You may be amazed at how big your office seems once stacks and stacks of files have been thinned or removed.
With all of these benefits, there really is no downside to secure shredding. Send your films to a shredder today and enjoy regaining the use of your office space.
