3.0 Responsibilities
The contractor
shall comply with the federal policies, regulations, and laws referenced
in
paragraph 1.1,
including those policies associated with safeguarding records covered
by the Privacy Act of 1974, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) statutes.
These policies include the preservation of all DHA records created
or received, regardless of format or mode of transmission (e-mail,
fax, etc.), or state of completion (draft, final, etc.). Contractors
may choose to maintain records in either paper or electronic format.
Depending on the chosen format, contractors shall use the appropriate
Addendum, either
A or
B,
for guidance on transferring paper records to the Federal Records
Centers (FRCs) or electronic records to DHA.
3.1 DHA
DHA will:
3.1.1 Develop and
implement policies and standard operating procedures for the measurement and
continuous improvement of the DHA RM Program;
3.1.2 Provide scope
requirements for the effective control of Government records to
include creation, organization, maintenance, use, and disposition
of records including records containing adequate and proper documentation
of the contractor’s administration and procedures;
3.1.3 Provide
annual RM training to contractors and custodians who manage Government records;
3.1.4 Notify responsive
contractors and custodians of time-sensitive records freezes and
lifts in a timely manner; and
3.1.5 Inspect contractors’ and custodians’ RM
practices and applied procedures during the contractor’s normal
business hours.
3.2 Contractor
The contractor
shall:
3.2.1 Ensure that the contractor’s Records
Liaison shall attend the DHA RM training annually;
Note: All
travel shall be at the contractor’s expense.
3.2.2 Understand
that records related to beneficiary health care, claims and all
supporting documentation, received or developed under DHA contracts
are the property of the U.S. Government, unless they are specifically
excluded:
3.2.2.1 Maintain
all government records in their custody pursuant to DHA RRS (see
Section 2).
3.2.2.2 Appoint an individual
to act as a RM Liaison to work with the DHA RM Officer pursuant
to DHA contractual scope.
3.2.2.3 Apply
current laws, regulations, standards, procedures, and techniques
to ensure the most economical, efficient, and reliable means for
the creation, retrieval, maintenance, preservation, and disposition
of Government records, regardless of media.
3.2.2.4 Maintain file
plans of all active and inactive Government records and provide
copies of file plans for review to the DHA RM Officer when requested.
3.2.2.5 Maintain documentation
on any Federal records that have been transferred to the FRCs or destroyed
pursuant to the DHA RRS.
3.2.2.6 Review,
comment, and update the file plan annually for each office within
their purview to ensure that records are accurately identified and
scheduled.
Note: File plans shall be made available
to the Government, if requested
3.2.2.7 Participate
in RM Program evaluations every two years to monitor compliance
with applicable RM laws and regulations.
3.2.2.8 Evaluate
current and potential information systems to identify record information
being created or received during the conduct of business and ensure
the preservation of federal records as specified in the DHA RRS.
Note: Record
information created in information systems and not identified in
the DHA RRS shall be brought to the attention of the DHA RM Officer.
3.2.2.9 Promote awareness
of their legal responsibility to report to the appropriate official
any actual, impending, or threatened unlawful removal, alteration,
or destruction of federal records. Applicable policies and regulations
are referenced in
paragraph 1.1.
3.2.2.10 Establish
a RM Program covering all media. The contractor shall use the standard classification
and filing system outlined in the DHA RRS. This allows for the maximum
uniformity and ease in maintaining and using Government records
and facilitating the locating, charge-out, re-filing, and disposing
of records.
3.2.2.11 Develop and
implement a vital records program in accordance with 36 CFR Chapter
XII Subchapter B, Part 1223, “Managing Vital Records.”
3.2.2.12 Retrieve and
deliver records within five working days of receiving the U.S. Government’s request
for them.
3.2.2.13 Maintain and store federal records
for the duration of their life cycle throughout the contract’s period
of performance.
Note: Refer to
Chapter 2, Section 10, paragraph 4.0 for record
transition instructions. Once a record’s retention has been satisfied,
the contractor shall transfer or destroy eligible records, whichever disposition
action is applicable to the records in question.
3.2.2.14 Manage
e-mail that complements Government records by applying the laws,
regulations, and instructions which are identified in this Policy
and include the following administrative actions:
3.2.2.14.1 Write
and implement e-mail instructions to include DHA RRS requirements
and risk prevention guidance addressing unauthorized additions,
deletions, and alterations to message content all of which impair
record integrity. At a minimum, the instructions shall address:
• Defining what is a record versus what identifies
a non-record;
• Adding records
to recordkeeping systems;
• Preserving data;
to include preserving names on distribution lists and directories;
• When to request
receipts and how to preserve them;
• Circulating
drafts securely; and
• Using external
e-mail systems for Government e-mail as records.
3.2.2.14.2 Assign an individual
to be responsible for the maintenance of the e-mail recordkeeping system.
This individual is also required to annually monitor the use of
the e-mail system to assure recordkeeping instructions are being
followed.
3.2.2.14.3 Train
all e-mail users and provide on-going training for any new users
on e-mail recordkeeping requirements in compliance with DHA RRS
requirements (also see
paragraph 1.1). This training shall include:
defining what is a record vs. a non-record; how to put records into
recordkeeping systems; preserving data; preserving names on distribution
lists or directories; when to request receipts and how to preserve
the receipts; how to deal with circulated drafts; and external e-mail
systems.
3.2.2.15 Routinely transfer
inactive paper records to the FRC designated by DHA RM Officer in accordance
with
Section 4.
4.0 Definitions
4.1 Active Records
Active
records are those used to conduct current DHA business. They may
also be referred to as “open.” Active records are generally maintained
in office space or online in an electronic system. Events in this
phase of the records life cycle include creating or receiving records
and capturing them in a document or content management system or
recordkeeping system.
4.2 Case Files
A case file
contains material on a specific action, transaction, event, person,
project, or other subject. As an example, case files may cover one
or several subjects that relate to a particular case.
4.3 Content Management
System
An application that provides capabilities
for multiple users with different permission levels to manage content,
data, or information.
4.4 Contractor Records
Records include
data produced and maintained by a contractor for DHA. The contractor
is required to provide adequate and complete documentation that
results in records about DHA’s programs.
4.5 Disposition
Instructions
Actions taken on records no longer needed
to conduct the current business of DHA, and usually include instruction
for the cut off, transfer, retirement, and destruction of record
documents. Specific guidance and techniques for using or applying
disposition instructions are located in the DHA RRS.
4.6 Documentation
Documentation
concerns the creation of records and the assembly or consolidation
of this information. This applies to records in all media (paper,
electronic, microfilm, etc.).
4.7 Electronic Information Systems
Records generated in systems created
to perform DHA mission related functions (claims, Explanation of
Benefits (EOBs), etc.) and used by office or organizational personnel,
computer operators, programmers, and systems administrators. These
systems are usually identified by a specific name or acronym, and
contain structured data. These systems contain DHA records content
and shall be required to have retention schedules applied.
4.8 Electronic
Mail
A document created or received on an agency
electronic mail system, including brief notes, more formal or substantive
documents, and any attachments and routing information which may
be transmitted with the message. Electronic mail may be a record
or a non-record.
4.9 Electronic Recordkeeping
The
creation, maintenance, use and disposition of records created and
stored by using a computer. Electronic recordkeeping is part of
the solution to manage, preserve, and provide access to electronic
records.
4.10 Electronic
Recordkeeping System
An electronic recordkeeping system collects,
organizes, and categorizes electronic records in their native file
form instead of requiring the user to print and file them in a manual
filing system. Such a system automates the preservation, retrieval,
use, and disposition of the electronic record.
4.11 Electronic
Records
Records stored in a form that only a computer
can process and satisfies the definition of a federal record, also
referred to as machine-readable records or automatic data processing
records.
4.12 Electronic
Standard Form 135 (SF-135)
The electronic
SF-135 is modeled after the transmittal document SF-135, which is
designed for metadata about the paper records. When transferring
electronic records, the metadata is different than the paper records
(see
Addendum B). The metadata collected for electronic
transfers will be the key identifiers used to search and retrieve
the record.
4.13
Freeze
(Also Record Freeze)
An action or event that suspends the destruction
of records to include:
• Updates to records retention schedules.
• Litigation.
• Natural disasters.
See
also
paragraphs 4.14 (Frozen Records) and
4.25 (Records).
4.14
Frozen
Records (FRs)
Temporary records that cannot be destroyed
according to scheduled retention because of special circumstances,
such as a court order, which requires a temporary extension of the
approved retention period.
4.15
Inactive Records
Inactive
records are documents which are no longer referenced on a regular
basis (yearly) and tend to be stored in a less accessible place.
Records become inactive when the cut-off, as defined on a Records
Retention Schedule, has been reached. Inactive records may also
be referred to as “closed” records.
4.16 Life Cycle of Records
The concept
that records pass through the following stages: receipt, capture,
creation, active use, inactive use, distribution, storage, transfer,
migration, disposition, and archiving of the official record.
4.17 Lifts
An
action or event that removes a freeze from records that are suspended
from destruction. See
paragraphs 4.13 (Freeze) and
4.14 (Frozen
Records).
4.18 Medium/Media
The
physical form of recorded information: such as paper, film, disc,
magnetic tape, and other materials on which information can be recorded
and stored.
4.19 Metadata
Data about a
record; the attributes of electronic records (structure, content,
and context), including office of origin, file codes, dates sent/received,
disposition, security classification, etc. For example, if a record
can be viewed as a “letter”, then metadata is found on the “envelope”
(e.g., date stamp, return address, addressee, etc.). Associated
metadata is data that is linked to or associated with a specific
electronic record or record object.
4.20 Migration
The techniques
and strategies used to move electronic information from one storage
medium to another over time to prevent the loss of needed information
because of technological obsolescence.
4.21 Non-Record Material
Non-record material
is any U.S. Government-owned documentary material that does not
meet the conditions of records status or that is specifically excluded
from the statutory definition of a record (see 44 USC 3301). There
are three specific categories of materials excluded from the statutory definition
of records:
• Library and
museum material (but only if such material is made or acquired and
preserved solely for reference or exhibition purposes), including
physical exhibits, artifacts, and other material objects lacking
evidential value.
• Extra copies
of documents (but only if the sole reason such copies are preserved
is for convenience of reference).
• Stocks of publications and of processed
documents. Catalogs, trade journals, and other publications that
are received from other Government agencies, commercial firms, or private
institutions and that require no action and are not part of a case
on which action is taken. (Stocks do not include serial or record
sets of agency publications and processed documents, including annual
reports, brochures, pamphlets, books, handbooks, posters and maps.)
4.22 Optical Disc
(OD)
A non-contact, random-access disc tracked
by optical laser beams and used for mass storage and retrieval of
digitized text and graphics. Sometimes called an optical digital
disc or optical digital data disc. Types include:
• Write Once Read Many (WORM);
• Compact Disc-Read
Only Memory (CD-ROM); and
• Digital Video
Disc (DVD).
4.23 Project Files
A project file
contains material on a specific action, transaction, event, person,
project, or other subject. As an example, project files may cover
one or several subjects that relate to a particular project.
4.24 Record Object
A
record object is a container (typically, a computer file) for a
group of related information. The information can be formatted as
either text or images, and the computer file-type indicates the
format of the information. For example, scanned images are typically
stored in TIFF or as Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Consideration
should be given to using searchable PDF files when TIFFs are too
large or have too many pages to open and be viewed in an efficient
and reliable manner.
Note: For the purpose
of electronic RM, a record object is not necessarily a row of data
in a database.
4.25
Records
According
to 44 USC 3301, the term “records” includes “all books, papers,
maps, photographs, electronic records, or other documentary materials,
regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received
by an agency of the U.S. Government under Federal law or in connection
with the transaction of public business and preserved or appropriate
for preservation by that agency or it’s legitimate successor as
evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations,
or other activities of the Government, or because of the informational
nature of data in them. Library and museum material made or acquired
and preserved solely for reference, and stocks or publications and
of processed documents are not included.”
4.26 Records Management
(RM)
That area of general administrative management
concerned with achieving economy and efficiency in the creation,
use/maintenance, and disposition of records.
4.27 Smart Scan
Smart Scan is
a feature of the Archives and Records Centers Information System
(ARCIS) that provides a service of scanning the paper records requested
and having them e-mailed to the requestor. For more specific details
about the service, check the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
ARCIS web page.
4.28 Terabyte
Drive
A type of external hard drive containing
1024 gigabytes per terabyte. The contractor shall contact the DHA
RM Officer for guidance on the current standards.
4.29 Transfer
The
term “transfer” has replaced the older term “accession” for temporary
records. Like an accession, a transfer is a unique identifier used
by National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to track
the records transferred using the transmittal document SF-135 for
paper, or for electronic records.
4.30 Transmission
and Receipt Data
4.30.1 Transmission
data: Information in electronic mail systems regarding the identities
of sender and addressee(s), and the date and time messages were
sent.
4.30.2 Receipt data:
Information in electronic mail systems regarding date and time of
receipt of a message, and/or acknowledgment of receipt or access
by the addressee(s).
4.31 Vital
Records (Sometimes Called Essential Records)
Records essential
to the continued functioning or reconstitution of an organization
during and after an emergency and also those records essential to
protecting the rights and interests of that organization and of
the individuals directly affected by its activities (includes both
emergency-operating and rights-and-interests records). Vital records
considerations are part of an agency’s records disaster prevention
and recovery program.