Electronics Recycling for Dental Offices

A dental office keeps patient records in more places than the server closet

Practice management systems such as Dentrix, Eaglesoft and Open Dental cache charts, treatment plans, insurance details and payment history on every workstation that runs them, not only on the server.

Digital radiographs and intraoral photos are saved by the imaging software on the PC each sensor or camera plugs into. Panoramic and CBCT units are usually paired with a dedicated workstation that stores scans for years.

Refresh projects tend to happen all at once: new software, new sensors, new operatory PCs. The old machines often sit in a back room until someone decides what to do with them, which is exactly where patient data goes missing.

What the rules ask of a dental practice

1. Dental practices that bill insurance electronically are HIPAA covered entities. The HIPAA Security Rule (45 CFR 164.310(d)(2)(i) and (ii)) requires policies for the final disposal of electronic patient data and for removing it before media is reused.
2. Texas adds its own layer. Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 181 applies to anyone in Texas who collects, stores or transmits protected health information, which reaches further than HIPAA alone.
3. A serialized Certificate of Destruction gives you a dated record of which drives were processed and how. How that record fits your risk analysis and policies remains your practice decision; we sign Business Associate Agreements when you need one.

EverTrade is not R2 certified; downstream material is routed through certified partners. See our standards and practices.

Dental Offices FAQ