RECORDS



RECORDS POLICY

Effective: 06/01/2018

Approved by Audit Committee: 05/2018

Approved by Board of Directors: 05/2018

Employees of North Iowa Community Action Organization will keep records of all activities. The nature of the records will be dictated by the type of record, (financial, participant, medical/dental) the requirements of the funding source and the needs of the agency for reporting purposes. The mark of a good set of records is that it leaves a clear audit trail.

Records of the agency are subject to audit and to public inspection. However, in complying with requests for information, care should be taken to protect the confidentiality of participant information and to be certain of the “need to know” of the person or representative of another agency requesting any such information.

Participant personal health information records are maintained in such a way that information needed for program reporting, etc., can be secured without revealing the names of the participants. This is accomplished by assigning a number code to a participant and transferring pertinent information to a file identified with the number code.

Financial records are maintained in such a way that funds of different funding sources and programs are separately identified and both annual independent or state audits can be performed expeditiously.

All records will be retained for a period of seven (7) years beginning with the date the contractor is notified by the funding source that the federal grantor agency has closed out the grant, at the State and Contractor level, or for the period required by the funding source contract (whichever is later). In addition, medical records will be retained indefinitely. Records containing sensitive information – particularly medical and personnel records, will be kept in locked cabinets as a protection to the client or employee, respectively.

Procedure

At the time an individual becomes a participant in a program, certain types of information are taken, such as name, address, age, etc. All information relating to that particular individual for personal health information is put into a computer file marked with an individual’s randomly assigned numerical number. All pertinent information (programs and activities as well as participant characteristics are entered into the file).

Later, as information is needed as to the activities of a given program or of the agency as a whole, the information can be printed in hard copy by the computer. Computer information is password protected and client files are kept in locked areas.

Financial records are filed numerically by check. Since the agency is on a monthly accounting cycle, this makes the records easily accessible. These records are further broken down by grant period and by year. Financial records are stored in the Central Office where they are available for reference and/or audit. They are retained a minimum of seven years after audit at which time they may be destroyed. An exception to this is federal tax records which are retained indefinitely.

If there is a question as to whether participant information can be released, it is recommended that the freedom of information and the privacy acts be reviewed.

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