What type of health record policy dictates how long individual health records must remain available for authorized use?

The correct answer is retention policies, which specifically outline the duration for which individual health records must be maintained and made available for authorized use. These policies are essential because they ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, while also allowing healthcare organizations to manage their records effectively.

Retention policies serve to protect the rights of patients and provide clinical staff with access to necessary information for ongoing care and treatment. They help institutions in determining how long to keep records based on various factors, including legal obligations, standards of practice, and the potential for future healthcare needs.

While other policy types, such as disclosure and redisclosure policies, relate to the sharing and transferring of health information, they do not dictate the duration for which records should be retained. Legal policies may reference laws pertaining to record retention but do not necessarily specify the time frames themselves. Therefore, retention policies are the specific guidelines that address the length of time health records must be available for authorized use.