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Retirement: Record Retention & Patient Communication

 

Do I need to notify my patients when I close my practice?

Current patients (any patient seen/treated by you on one or more occasions in the past 12 to 24 months) should receive written notification of practice closure approximately 90 days before the last date of active practice. The letter should be sent via certified mail, “return receipt requested,” and regular U.S. mail. The certified receipt should be attached to the file copy of the letter and placed in the patient’s patient record.

The letter should include the following:

  • The date the practice will close.

  • The importance of seeking continued care.

  • Information about where the patient’s medical records will be located (for example, another doctor’s office).

  • Notification that a copy of the patient’s records will be sent to another doctor of the patient’s choice upon receipt of the patient’s written authorization.

  • A medical record release authorization form.

  • A statement of how long the patient’s records will be retained.

  • A permanent mailing address (or P.O. Box) for all future record requests, if the records will not be maintained at the current location.

Patients receiving ongoing care and treatment should also receive verbal notification with a discussion of their plan of treatment and coordination of follow-up care, all of which should be documented. Other patient notification efforts may include:

  • Placing an ad in the local newspaper notifying the public of the office closure.

  • Placing signs in the office notifying patients of the pending office closure.

  • Placing a message on the office phone system.

 

How long should I keep medical records?

It is important for each practice to establish, and consistently implement, medical record retention policies and procedures.

Medical record retention policies and procedures should include guidelines that specify what information should be kept, the time period for which it should be kept and the storage medium (electronic, paper, X-rays, etc.). Applicable federal health record retention requirements, state laws or regulations pertaining to retention of health information, and accreditation agency retention standards, if applicable, should be followed. It is recommended that a local attorney, familiar with such matters, be consulted when developing medical record retention policies.

Unless longer periods of time are required by state or federal law, records of adult patients should be retained for a minimum of 10 years after the most recent encounter and records of minor patients should be retained to the age of majority plus the state statute of limitations or 10 years after the most recent encounter, whichever is longest.

When selling or leaving a podiatric practice, it is best dealt with by obtaining legal counsel in your home state that deals with employment agreements and state rules regarding length of time and appropriate manners of maintaining record access and storage.