Final answer:
Patient records must be completely destroyed to ensure confidentiality by using methods such as shredding, burning, pulping, hard drive shredding, magnetic degaussing, or data overwriting software.
Step-by-step explanation:
When patient records need to be eliminated, they must be completely destroyed to protect patient confidentiality and comply with health information regulations such as HIPAA in the United States. Complete destruction means the records cannot be reconstructed or read. This is typically accomplished through methods such as shredding, burning, pulping, or pulping for paper records, and hard drive shredding or magnetic degaussing for electronic records. In the case of digital information, the use of software designed to overwrite the data may also be employed. It's important to follow regulations and industry standards when destroying patient records to ensure that the sensitive information is irretrievably destroyed.