When an inspector asks to see your client records, they're in your dashboard, signed and dated. This page covers what your state's rule asks of them, what each signed copy carries, how to pull one up or hand over all of them, and how long they're kept.
What will my inspector look for?
They check your client records against your state's rule, and for client records a rule can set 3 things:
- What each record has to capture, like the client's details, the date, the artist and the health answers.
- What the consent form has to say.
- How long you keep each record.
Your state's page has whichever of the 3 your state's rule sets, in the rule's own words. Open the compliance page and pick your state. At the top it says how long to keep each record, or that the rule doesn't set a number of years. Further down, What the record must capture and What the consent form must say list the rule's lines, What the form asks in your state lists what your waiver form adds for your state, and Who inspects you names the office. You can hand the inspector your phone with the page open, or print it.
Most states' rules don't say whether a record is kept on paper or digitally. Where yours does, its page says so under Digital records, with the rule.
What does each signed copy carry?
Each signed waiver is the record of one client's visit. It's written once, at the signing, and it carries:
- Everything your client filled in: their details, the work and where it went, the artist, and every health answer, word for word.
- Each consent sentence they ticked, and the terms.
- Their signature, and the date they signed.
- The photo of their ID. If they picked a saved photo instead of taking one, the record says so.
- For a minor, a page of its own for the parent or guardian's consent, with what your state requires.
- Whatever your shop adds after the work, like the artist's signature or the lot numbers, on a page at the end headed Added by the shop after signing.
Your Waivers list shows the day and time each waiver was signed.
How do I pull up one client's record?
In your dashboard, open Waivers. Search for the client by name, or find them in the list, which is grouped by day. Tap the waiver, then Open the signed waiver. It opens on your phone or computer, ready to show, print or save. Each waiver also links to the client's own page, with every waiver they've signed at your shop.
If an inspector could come in while you're out, the Artists screen has a switch, Let every artist see every waiver, so any artist who signs in can pull up any record.
How do I hand over all of them?
As the owner, press Export on Waivers, beside the title. Pick Every signed waiver, then the dates: All time, This year, Last 2 years, or Pick dates for a range of your own. You get a spreadsheet that opens in Excel, Numbers and Google Sheets, with a row for each waiver: the day and time it was signed, the client, the artist and their license number, the work and where it went, and a link to the signed copy that opens once you're signed in.
The health answers stay out of the spreadsheet unless you tick Include the health answers, because a client list isn't a medical record.
Every signed copy is also emailed the moment it's signed, to the emails under Settings → Notifications. That inbox is a second set of your records.
How long are my records kept?
Your state sets how long you keep each record. Its page says so at the top, under Keep each record.
We keep every signed copy in your dashboard while your account is open. If you close it while you're paying, it stays open for 90 days after the time you paid for runs out, so you can export everything. When it closes, we delete what we hold. Where your state's rule has client records destroyed after a number of years, we follow that clock, and Settings says so under your shop's state.
The signed copy we email you at each signing is yours to keep, for as long as your state says.
Is HIPAA mode for my shop?
HIPAA mode is for a shop that bills a health plan for its work, itself or through a billing service, like areola tattooing after surgery. HIPAA covers that shop and every client record it keeps, and the company that holds those records has to sign a business associate agreement with it, which we do in HIPAA mode. A shop that doesn't bill health insurance isn't covered by HIPAA and doesn't need it.
In HIPAA mode, your records are kept in storage of their own, a signed copy opens in your dashboard behind a sign-in instead of coming by email, and Settings shows who opened which record, and when. Some things are off in HIPAA mode, like texting. It's under Account in your dashboard, and its page says what's off before you turn it on.
A question this page didn’t answer? Email hello@waivers.tattoo and we’ll answer it.