Secure destruction of digital and physical records workflows

Purpose

1. Automate destruction of digital and physical records to ensure therapists remain compliant with HIPAA, GDPR, and local data privacy laws.

2. Prevent unauthorized access and reduce risk by automating timely deletion and secure destruction, covering clinical notes, client data, emails, backups, and paper files.

3. Drive accountability with automated audit trails and notifications to stakeholders about destroyed records, making compliance achievable for small practices.

Trigger Conditions

1. Record retention expiry date reached in EHR or case management system.

2. Client request for data deletion under GDPR.

3. Employee offboarding or therapist exits practice — automate related record destruction.

4. Workflow-based trigger from compliance review, escalated archive, or legal demand.

Platform Variants

1. Box

• Feature/Setting: Event-based lifecycle policy for folders; configure “Retention Policy Expiry” event to trigger API call for permanent delete.
  

2. Dropbox

• Feature/Setting: Automate file delete using /files/delete_v2 API upon meta-date condition.
  

3. DocuSign

• Feature/Setting: Configure “Envelope Completed” event to automate destruction of signed documents after preset period via REST API.
  

4. Google Drive

• Feature/Setting: Google Drive API, automate file removal or move to trash after elapsed retention.
  

5. OneDrive

• Feature/Setting: Graph API automates targeted document deletion based on metadata flags.
  

6. SharePoint

• Feature/Setting: Retention label automator; destroy on label expiration using Compliance Center automation.
  

7. Smartsheet

• Feature/Setting: Row automation; configure “Date-based Workflow” to delete sensitive rows.
  

8. Egnyte

• Feature/Setting: Data Lifecycle API, automate file purge when marked for destruction.
  

9. Amazon S3

• Feature/Setting: S3 Lifecycle Rules, automate object deletion after policy duration.
  

10. Azure Blob Storage

• Feature/Setting: Blob lifecycle management, automate expiring data with Delete Policy.
  

11. Google Workspace Admin

• Feature/Setting: Email retention policy; API triggers deletion post-retention.
  

12. Microsoft 365 Admin

• Feature/Setting: Compliance manager workflow, configure auto-delete for stale emails and docs.
  

13. Iron Mountain

• Feature/Setting: Scheduled pickup request API; automate destruction order based on flagged records.
  

14. Shred-it

• Feature/Setting: API or portal workflow to automate scheduled physical document pickup.
  

15. Zapier

• Feature/Setting: Automation between EHR systems and disposal services on “Retention Expired.”
  

16. Make (Integromat)

• Feature/Setting: Automated delete scenarios for cloud storage or local files.
  

17. Salesforce Health Cloud

• Feature/Setting: Platform event triggers record destruction via REST API.
  

18. Slack

• Feature/Setting: Automated message deletion via conversation history API based on date/keyword.
  

19. Trello

• Feature/Setting: Card archive or delete automated via Board API when compliance status reached.
  

20. Jira Service Management

• Feature/Setting: Workflow automator triggers record purge via API on ticket close + retention expiry.
  

21. Boxcryptor

• Feature/Setting: Automated decryption and wipe via management API.
  

22. LastPass Business

• Feature/Setting: Automate deleting user vault data after role changes using admin API.
  

Benefits

1. Robust compliance: Automatedly assures compliance with global and local laws.

2. Security improvement: Automates human error reduction in record retention/destruction.

3. Audit readiness: Keeps automated, immutable logs for each automating step.

4. Cost efficiency: Automation reduces manual destruction cost and resource use.

5. Client trust: Automated workflows increase reliability of sensitive data handling and destruction.