Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Abstract Introduction: One of the major issues in hospitals is the period for which the medical records are
retained. Health information management professionals traditionally have performed retention
and destruction functions using all media, including paper, images, optical disk, microfilm, DVD,
and CD-ROM. Health information management departments must maintain a specific program
to retain and destruct the records. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the retention and
destruction process of medical records in the hospitals in Isfahan and codifying the appropriate
guidelines. Materials and Methods: The research was conducted as a cross-sectional descriptive
study in 30 hospitals in Isfahan. The data was collected using a Check List. Also 30 medical
records experts’ viewpoints were obtained using the Delphi technique. Data entry and statistical
analysis was performed using SPSS. Results: The findings indicated that 53.8% of the study
population maintained a written policy. A 34.6% maintained a written policy to destruct medical
records. And 50% announced that no instructions had been given to the hospitals by qualified
authorities to destruct the medical records. Discussion: The majority of the hospitals are still
unclear about the retention period of medical records, which could be due to not to mention the
retention period for most medical records by the country’s National Literature and lack of policy
and procedure in hospitals. Conclusions: According to the legislations, hospitals are bound to
retain the inpatients’ records for full 15 years but based on the findings of this research, less than
half of the study population retained the inpatients’ records for the period mentioned.

Abstract ABSTRACT
Context: Damages and loss of life sustained during an earthquake results from falling structures
and flying glass and objects. To address these and other problems, new information technology
and systems as a means can improve crisis management and crisis response. The most
important factor for managing the crisis depends on our readiness before disasters by useful
data. Aims: This study aimed to determine the Earthquake Information Management System
(EIMS) in India, Afghanistan and Iran, and describe how we can reduce destruction by EIMS
in crisis management. Materials and Methods: This study was an analytical comparison in
which data were collected by questionnaire, observation and checklist. The population was
EIMS in selected countries. Sources of information were staff in related organizations, scientific
documentations and Internet. For data analysis, Criteria Rating Technique, Delphi Technique
and descriptive methods were used. Results: Findings showed that EIMS in India (Disaster
Information Management System), Afghanistan (Management Information for Natural Disasters)
and Iran are decentralized. The Indian state has organized an expert group to inspect issues
about disaster decreasing strategy. In Iran, there was no useful and efficient EIMS to evaluate
earthquake information. Conclusions: According to outcomes, it is clear that an information
system can only influence decisions if it is relevant, reliable and available for the decisionmakers in a timely fashion. Therefore, it is necessary to reform and design a model. The model
contains responsible organizations and their functions.