Quoting K Koka <[log in to unmask]>:

> Greetings to all!
>
> > Our Medical School is planning to digitize some of its student
>>> records and destroy the hard copy originals.

Karen,
The common caviats apply: will the institution have the funds and the will to
migrate these records every time your tecnology changes.  Can such 
migration be
done without loss; how will you montitor for degradation of the records during
off-line storage?  Medical student records are often called upon years later
for certification and re-certification issues and to show performance in
specialties, etc.  You have an implied if not actual contract with your
students to be able to produce those records throughout their career unless
your institution has given them due notice at the beginning of their schooling
at your institution that keeping such records is their responsibility (if at
all possible).  Given that, you need to look at the risk of losing the records
and the litigation that might come if your institution screws up some Drs.
career.  Is the cost of storage of the hard copy worth the possible loss in
litigation.  One might consider imaging and then keeping the hard copy through
one change of technology and migration to see if the commitment is 
there and it
can be successfully carried out by your IT staff.  This is not legal advice,
just my thoughts on the issue.  Dick King, University of Arizona

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