Digital Record Keeping: What Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Laws Can Teach Every Business

Federal and state Right-to-Know laws have been in effect for several decades, but in Pennsylvania they were recently redefined. Regardless of whether or not you do business with agencies in the state of Pennsylvania, there are lessons you can learn about organizational efficiency as a result of these new laws.

Starting January 1, 2009, new Pennsylvania Right-to-Know (RTK) laws went into effect with significant implications for state-affiliated agencies. For more than two decades, federal and state RTK laws have enabled citizens to request records, but the burden of proof to show that documents were public (and should be accessible to its citizens) have traditionally—and legally—fallen on the people’s shoulders.

As we ushered in the New Year, that changed in Pennsylvania. As before, any U.S. citizen can request records. However, now the burden of proving they are not public falls on state government agencies and their affiliates, with hefty fines if timelines and guidelines aren’t met. With only five business days to comply with a request, Commonwealth agencies, schools, and other affiliates governed by the regulation are scrambling to respond to requests with accurate, timely, and appropriate information.

The challenge: managing diverse documentation efficiently

Finding records quickly has always been challenging—before and after the new RTK legislation was introduced. Older records may be stored off-site, subject to damage from humidity or other environmental conditions, temporarily misfiled and difficult to locate, or permanently lost. Newer records on someone’s desk undergoing review may be temporarily inaccessible. Pulling information together quickly can be difficult and time consuming, since documents come in many different forms—online forms, images, video, and more.

Prioritizing and managing time-sensitive requests—as well as responding with the appropriate documents—can be challenging. If staff believes a request should not be honored due to its non-public status (such as requests for information that might compromise public safety, security of medical records, or personal identification information), the agency’s response must include the legal citation that proves the record is not public. That, too, takes time. On the other side, getting public records to requestors punctually in order to meet state mandates can be equally challenging.

The new law has introduced a sense of urgency, since the inability to comply—quickly—can have a negative effect on an agency’s reputation and its bottom line.

Requirements for compliance

Complying with the new RTK laws requires methodical record keeping. It also means keeping your governance rules, work priorities, and deadlines close at hand and in the right order to ensure timely and appropriate response. Documenting every action is vital so you can prove your efforts to comply, yet the demands place a burden on limited staff resources. According to the Office of Open Records website (http://openrecords.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/ open_records/4434), there are several basic requirements:

1. Time stamping: The written request for records—acceptable via mail, email, a fax, or a written submission in person—must be stamped with the date of receipt. From that date, you have five business days to comply with the request (or to provide a legal citation that proves the requested document is not a public record).

2. Calculating deadlines: You should calculate the final day of the five-day period according to Section 901, noting it on the written request form. This establishes your deadline to comply.

3. Maintaining complete, accurate records: Keep a digital or paper copy of the written request, including any other documents that were submitted with it. The original request, a copy of the response, and a record of written communications between your agency and the requestor should also be kept on file.

4. Handling denials consistently: If the request is denied, the written request form should be kept for 30 days.

5. Managing appeals: If an appeal is filed, you should keep the records until a final determination is issued, or the appeal is officially denied.

Managing multiple time-sensitive requests with variable deadlines can be frustrating in a paperbased environment. With enterprise content management (ECM), however, requests can be captured and time stamped electronically; rules can be put in place to facilitate appropriate decision making; and documents can be distributed appropriately, securely, and more quickly. Pre-set security lets you regulate (and indicate) which records are public and which are not, and you can block sensitive information (such as Social Security numbers) from staff and/or public view. Detailed audit trails of record access and distribution means that compliance (or the intent to comply) is much easier to demonstrate.

How ECM can help you

A web-based, integrated ECM software solution gives you centralized, secure access to all of your records electronically, right from your desktop, wherever you are. Detailed, standardized indexing according to your agency’s rules and robust search capabilities ensures that files are found easily and quickly from the desktops of everyone who is authorized to access, view, annotate, or act on each document type.

ECM addresses each of the five requirements listed above:

1. Automatic date/time stamping as documents are received. This not only makes it easier for staff to manage deadlines; it also provides unquestionable proof when auditors or compliance officers demand it. Automatic time stamping is proof that will protect you if you respond in time but a citizen claims you didn’t.

2. Deadlines that can’t be missed. By setting an algorithm to calculate the cut-off date for response based on the date of receipt, deadlines are indexed and searchable. Since the information is stored digitally, an ECM solution with business process management (BPM) or workflow capabilities, integrated with your email software, can alert you of impending deadlines. Likewise, BPM/Workflow can evaluate the number of tasks in each person’s work queue and redistribute jobs if necessary based on role, workload, and other criteria. Employee absences, vacations, and other delay-causing situations disappear: work is reallocated automatically, based on your rules.

3. Central storage and document association.

1. An ECM system lets you capture and store all documents digitally in a single, central, searchable repository. Whether requests originate through the mail, email, fax, or as a result of a visit in person, documents can be scanned or imported to digital storage directly upon receipt. Digital date/time stamps originate as documents are scanned, helping to prioritize work. All requests are handled in order and on time.
2. ECM lets you associate related documents easily. Data captured and indexed at the time of the request (such as the citizen’s name, type of record, and date the response is due) can be extracted and re-used for related documents so you can avoid redundancy and re-keying. No more searching through forms, email systems, mail logs, and other records to get the whole picture. By storing everything digitally, you get all of the information you need, every time, right from your desktop—without resorting to disparate manual searches.

4. Compliance with records retention rules. ECM gives you the power to automate records retention rules in accordance with your information governance policies. When a document has reached the end of its useful life and needs to be archived as a permanent record, ECM follows your pre-set instructions, alerting you that records are about to be migrated or purged from the system, and moving the files appropriately. ECM ensures that all records are managed and moved consistently, at the right time.

5. In the event an appeal is filed, BPM/Workflow software within an integrated ECM solution makes it easy to expedite and track the progress of the appeal. Digital distribution enables simultaneous review of documents by authorized parties. Your pre-set rules dictate the standard hierarchy of actions required for the appeals process, as well as how to handle exceptions.

One of the greatest advantages of digital record keeping and processing is the indisputable digital trails it leaves behind. From the moment a document is captured through the official response and accompanying documents, every file interaction and customer communication is recorded in detail. Questions about your agency’s compliance—or its attempts to abide—are thoroughly documented behind the scenes, automatically. Your staff is freed from the worries of detailed record keeping and is able to concentrate on projects that are meaningful to your business and your customers.

In short, ECM puts the reins in your agency’s hands, letting you respond to every request appropriately and on time.

Recommendations to keep in mind

Records retention—one of the greatest advantages of digital storage—is the key to successful implementation of the RTK law. Whether you manage requests manually or embrace time- and cost-saving ECM, a records management policy that contains clearly communicated retention rules is vital to your ability to comply. If you take the time to create a solid policy and invest in your future with an ECM solution that automates the process, the time and cost savings are considerable.

Summary

Mounting regulations, tougher enforcement, and higher penalties are incentive enough to take a close look at ECM. If you put a good system in place, you not only protect your agency from stiff fines; you also add polish to your staff’s efficiency, making your organization shine.

Federal and state regulations continue to be introduced and enforced, making this a great time to introduce the cost-saving measures that will give you control over your documents and processes. Once you have experienced true efficiency, you will never look back.

For more information or to schedule a demonstration, please Contact DocFinity now.