Where to begin?
First, I question the comment about "fulfill retention requirements" related
to the storage of closed client files... for the most part, your
requirements are fulfilled when the case is closed, at least when it comes
to what are TRULY "client files", unless in your agreement with your clients
you've been requested to hold the files for some agreed upon period of time.
Thee are the firms files related to the matter that you might be required to
retain for some period of time, but the client files are the client's
property and any obligation for their retention should be on the client. I
know many firms don't bill their clients for record storage, but some have
begun notifying their clients when a matter is settled that the client files
are stored at the XYZ company, there are X boxes and they should contact the
company to arrange to either have them transferred into their name,
delivered to them, or destroyed after 60 days or whatever time period the
firm feels comfortable with.
As far as conversion by scanning/imaging or whatever goes, whether you do it
in-house or have a service bureau perform the service, I have to agree with
what's been said by many others. The decision shouldn't be based on the cost
of a wholesale backfile conversion, but rather on the value of converting
and indexing the files determined by:
- how frequently you need to access the content,
- if you want to access them randomly,
- need to have them available to multiple people simultaneously, or
- have people in a number of locations that may need access to them at the
same time
... and you want to avoid retrieval and copying the physical documents.
Keep in mind that there needs to be quality control performed of the
captured images (you set a threshold of how many to check, and if satisfied
with the results, you raise the threshold) and you need to store the images
and the index (metadata) and backups. And you need to ensure the images are
properly managed to limit/control access to them, especially if there is any
PHI or financial information included on the images.
You mentioned storing the images on some form of media... that indicates you
intend to store the information off-line and if you do, then you'd need to
load the images and indexing to be able to search and view them when you
need access. Depending on the size of any one repository, this could be very
time consuming. Also, if you're using removable media, you will have to
contend with the potential of media degrading and needing to be periodically
refreshed. And every time you replace media, you have to contend with the
possibility of losing a percentage of the images and/or index data because
it's considered a "lossy" process.
The one thing I'd like to add into the costs that Glenn mentioned when
calculating the cost of storage is the cost of a "permanent removal fee"
than many of the large service providers are now placing on your holdings.
These fees are in addition to the normal retrieval, delivery, etc. fees you
pay and are appended to the invoice when you take final custody of YOUR OWN
assets, or when you have them destroy them for you. Not all providers feel
it's necessary to charge you this fee, but the largest vendor in the
marketplace is one who does, unless you've been able to successfully
negotiate it out of your contract.
Larry
--
Larry Medina
Danville, CA
RIM Professional since 1972
List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
|
