Medical records and other health data on individuals are considered as public documents and must be submitted to the National Archives for preservation.
Patient records may be created by:
The Healthcare Institution,
Hospital
Nursing home
Self-employed healthcare workers.
It is absolutely against the law to dispose of medical records.
Submission of medical records
Patient records are a collection of medical records of a patient that are processed in connection with his treatment in healthcare. Medical records refer to description or interpretation in written language, pictures, graphs and video and audio recordings that contain information concerning the health of a patient and his treatment in healthcare, along with other necessary personal information.
Patient records and medical records are obligatory data and shall be submitted to the National Archives for preservation.
The preservation of medical records is discussed in article 10(2) of the Act on medical records states:
If the operation of a medical record system is stopped, medical records stored there shall be transferred to the medical examiner. The medical examiner may decide, with the consent of the patient or his representative, that medical records that have been transferred to him shall be stored in the medical record system of another health institution or healthcare professionals' office or in a common medical record system.
Article 11 of the Act states:
Medical records shall be kept in the medical records system of health institutions and the healthcare professional's office. The obligation to submit medical records to public archives, their preservation and access there shall be governed by the provisions of the law on public archives.
When a healthcare professional leaves his or her job in a self-employed clinic, he or she shall contact the Directorate of Health and with his/her consent ensure the delivery of medical records to the National Archives, see the Act on Medical Records.
To begin the process of submission, a message should be sent to the National Archives at the e-mail address skjalavarsla@skjalasafn.is for further information.
The delivery process is initiated when the storage register and other supporting documents have been reviewed by the National Archives experts, at which point the delivery period can be issued.
The rules of the National Archives for the submission of electronic data apply to the submission of medical records in electronic form. See further here.
It should be noted that it is absolutely prohibited to dispose of medical records.
Disclaimer
Please note that the information provided on this website has been translated using machine translation tools. While we strive for accuracy, the translated content may not fully reflect the original intent or meaning. The original content in Icelandic is considered the authoritative source and should be referenced for complete accuracy. Additionally, please be aware that this website is currently under construction and not all content has been translated yet. We appreciate your patience as we work to improve the website and its content. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at upplysingar@skjalasafn.is.
