There are a number of factors at play here.  As far as the digital document itself goes, it's important to understand and be aware of the requirements to retrieve those documents at a later time.  I like used a 100-year scenario.  If I create a spreadsheet today, will software and hardware exist that will be able to read that file in 100 years?  Microsoft's new office formats are much more open than older formats and I would dare to say the content would be readable after 100 years (maybe not the formatting).  I think it's a good idea to be aware of the nature of the digital documents being stored and create a review date if the file format may require updating.

Another factor is the storage itself.  If electronic records are stored within a modern electronic records repository, the onus of managing storage should be on the IT department.  Over time, your system administrator would likely move the digital record to new storage media a number of times.  If you store records on your own media (hard drives, CD's, thumb drives, etc.), it is much more important to actively manage that storage (and keep your resume up to date).  

As far as electronic health records go, there are a lot of misconceptions about the nature of these systems.  EHR systems are not traditional document-related systems.  For a given health visit, the medical staff will collect a lot of information such as weight, temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, reason for visit, diagnosis, prescriptions, tests, etc.  Instead of collecting that information on a paper chart, the individual data points get entered into the EHR system.  This provides much better information about the patient that can't be derived from a stack of paper or scanned charts.  Of course, this makes the idea of retention much more complicated.  How long do I need to keep blood pressure readings?  Is a urine test for an acute bladder infection relevant beyond a few months?

Mark Graves
Omaha, NE
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