DON'T OVERLOOK REGULATORY COMPLIANCE - IS YOUR RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN ORDER?

In today's business environment, it is increasingly important to implement policies and procedures for properly managing documents and information. The advancement in technology and growth in document creation has had an impact, as well as the trend towards more strict regulations and standards, making document management a priority in most organizations.

Regulatory compliance issues are beginning to impact virtually all industries and cannot be overlooked. If an organization is ever called upon to produce records, they must be complete and up-to-date and destruction activity must follow guidelines. Regulatory compliance is not an option in many cases and, to avoid penalties, companies may need to look at their records management policies and implement necessary changes.

Is your organization compliant?
The first step in ensuring that your organization is within acceptable standards is to research government regulations that pertain to your type of business. For example, in the healthcare industry, HIPAA has had the most impact of any regulatory issue in recent years. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act affects the financial services industries, as well as many others. Government agencies themselves must follow the guidelines set forth in the Government Paperwork Eliminations Act and other regulations.

Once you know what is required, examine how records are being managed and determine if there is there a need to adjust your filing system structure or procedures. Also consider whether your records could be easily located if called upon by an outside regulatory influence. Evaluate how much time it would take to produce a record for a government agency or legal issue, if the need arose. It may not be enough to simply re-evaluate your filing system. In some cases, a company might need to implement an entirely new process for managing records and information.

Having a trained, designated records manager or administrator on staff or hiring an outsourced consultant is important to ensure that your policies are implemented and maintained for longterm compliance and continuous improvement. A trained or experienced professional will be comfortable in evaluating discrepancies, as well as keeping up with changes to requirements.

Given the significant legal and financial consequences of non-compliance, more and more companies are turning to outside document management experts to provide them with recommendations, professional services and products to help them become compliant.

Results of regulatory compliance
The need for compliance causes organizations to rethink their procedures for managing information. While the costs to implement change may be a significant expense for some companies, when done properly, updating systems and software will likely result in savings through minimizing exposure, improved document management and productive gains. Companies not directly affected by regulations will also benefit from improved methods.