File Room

Whoa see this is why I would love to hell to visit some of these places and find some jackpot like this. Just to look over.

Countdown to someone whining about HIPAA laws.... Seriously though, great picture! Makes me feel like I'm in the room with them, freaking out about cleaning up that mess!

Man....Thems is LOTS-a RECORDS! You're right, Sketch. I'd hate to have to try cleaning up in there! That's one HUGE room!
Great angle Motts! Did you have a slight tilt to the camera? It kind of looks that way when you look towards the door on the right....?? It could be an optical delusion, too....

Looks like my backed-up filing!! Those look like sheer curtains at the top -- a little bit of feminine decor!

RECYCLE!!! It's the law!!!

I like this picture. Talk about being organize. I wonder if they have a back up for all these records??

This is Janice office. Hey Janice now i know why you are always on this site. HA!!! Ha!!!!

Yes, I must get organized!! My filing is obviously getting out of hand. Did anybody notice those curtains!??

What a mess! Poor Janice...

Holy crap!! This gives me nightmares! Just thinking about trying to clean this up and organize stuff is enough to give me a headache.

Yeah, but did you see the freaking curtains!!???

Ok!!! Ok!!!! We see the curtains. I am looking at the curtains and nothing comes to my mind. Is it me!!!!!!!!!!

I almost got a job as a chart filer at a doctor's office a few years ago. This photo makes me quite glad I didn't land that job...

I just think they are pretty and out of place in that hell hole of file storage boxes -- many of which, I might add, I have put together at great physical harm to my bod. [whispering -- thanks for noticing the curtains, Tom Tom]

Just think Johnnsy your love for this site your job would not last . You think its a mess now.

HIPPA HIPPA HIPPA,

was there not a recent article on a facilty of families that were in a law suit for someone selling old records on line????

This is the kind of service the taxpayers are recieving in that state! Makes one wonder what your state is doing with the money?

I don't have to wonder - I get to see it first hand. ;-)

man dont know what I would like to do....read them or start a recycling effort

Yikes Sketch! Must type them all into a digital database manually! *wake up from scary nightmare in a sweat* Whew!

Ok-ok, the curtains are just LOVELY! :oD

i find this kinda sad, all those documents detailing the lives of the people who were there just disregarded....

thats way too much paperwork.

Hmm.... Third row, seventh box over... That's it!! The missing ballots that were not counted! Gore did win! L-O-L!! HeHeHe!!

Oh my god it's like high school finals all over again.

Whoaa!! Thats a lot of paper!
So what happens when the hospital closes down? They just leave all the patients private and confidential records in the building?

They aren't supposed to and never were supposed to leave this information unsecured. Patient information has always been supposed to be confidential, even before HIPAA - HIPAA just put some teeth into the concept. However, given that we have now seen this at multiple sites I am saddened by it.

My best guess has to do with timing and ignorance. As a psych I am supposed to keep all records for anyone I have seen in therapy for at least 5 to 7 years (the length depends on the state psych laws). I have moved 5 times in the past 7 years and each time I have moved I have made my poor spousal unit pick up and move multiple (15+) metal file cabinets full of therapy records. Luckily last year was my time limit expiration for maintaining records and I was able to shred and/or burn 15 filing cabinets worth of records. I think that's why I get so irritable when I see that other people don't follow the same guidelines.

I am guessing that the information was kept for a number of years per state statutes, and then as the years dragged by the information was forgotten as new people came in and took over the state record systems and somehow lost the fact that all this was still sitting somewhere.

Well, that's me being kind. I know that if MY name was in any of those records (either as therapist or as client) I would be a little peevish about now.

ohh MAN look at all those supposed to be private documents id love to find taht as i explore these kinda places..

uggggggggggggg let me at them!!!!!!!

Fantastic picture but what a sad waste. These were people's lives in there! And again I will ask, WHERE ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE!!!

amazing that all that info could fit onto
a couple of zip drives today....

This is also what the big stink at Danvers was; having the patients private records left behind as if nobody cared. I can't believe they let all that paperwork just sit around like that.

LOL! That looks like my boyfriend's comic book collection!

holy shit

i would love to go there and look through some of that paperwork - whats happened to all those people?

What a mess!!

paper cut comes to mind.

See, this is why I've gone paper-less.

wow looks like my old english teachers classroom and it stills looks like that.

Ever seen rats in there?

you could find records of people whove been there, why would they not clean up all these records

Looks almost as bad as my place before I cleaned it up last autumn.

A commercial D260 scanner would gobble that up.
Wouldn't be much point, though.

Hope there's no PHI (Private Health Information) in there, but there probably is. Someone's meical hisotry, probably even SSN's... a State Run facility's info should be better kept!

I would love to read this stuff, it would be very insightful!

I actually gasped aloud at this one xD SO MANY FILES! It's insane...

Usually (or at least I thought so until seeing this and other photos on this site) one of the big questions a state has to answer when closing down at institution is where to store all of its records. Then every social worker/psychologist/nurse etc. has to try to keep track of where the state has Hospital X records this year (they tend to move them around as other institutions shut down, or departmental space is re-allocated). That's why I always asked for a copy of a person's entire institutional record upon discharge, and when the DD center here was being closed I requested the records of any person we served who had ever been there.

They definately didn't have zip files back then.

Glad I don't have to scan that stuff into the database...

Woah, neat find.

OH MY GOSH! im in heaven.

Oy..can you imagine one butt-plug exploring in here (NOT you Motts lol) smoking a cigarette...one little spark from that landing on one of these boxes...

PPPFFFFFFOOOOMMMM....there goes the neighborhood, so to speak...

This makes me want to ... I dunno ... do some filing maybe? I don't think I have enough years left on this Earth to finish all this though lol!!!

I have been a nurse for 23 tears and just accepted a job heading medical records this is totally illegal I have to keep records in a locked file behind a locked room whoever is responsible for this needs to be fined and clean it up where is the state board?????

holy shit

That's an arson's dream come true.