I'm happy the doctor is seeking another way for us to seek the revenue.

I think it's a great example of a public-private partnership. I really wish the government entities in the past would have scrutinized other tax abatements as much as this.

There is no need to purchase additional space or equipment to store unnecessary information and no need to hire staff to manage it. And you eliminate any potential risks of discovery in the event of a legal action where a plaintiff requests you to produce information.

Work with your business process and legal advisers to develop a records management policy, and from that, develop procedures and a retention schedule (after performing an inventory of existing records) and assessing who creates, receives and manages what information for your organization.

Most organizations are having a difficult time getting their arms around their electronic repositories. As they made the mistake of allowing things to get out of hand years ago, it's now much more difficult to close Pandora's box.

What is represented related to the increased compliance requirements for records retention comes across as scare tactics, and it's generally being provided by those who would profit the most from organizations 'keeping everything forever,' which is a prescription for disaster for any business. While it is correct to state that more information needs to be retained than in the past and for longer periods of time, the retention of data, information and records beyond required time periods is a risk-laden practice.