California
Medical Records Custodian & Retention Laws
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California Medical Record Retention Law:
Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code s.2266
- Adult patients: At least 7 years. Failing to maintain adequate and accurate records for that period is unprofessional conduct.
- Patients who were minors: No separate physician period set by B&P 2266.
- The retention period runs from: The last date of service to the patient.
- Effective 1 January 2024 (SB 815) - this is a recent change.
- Certain Medi-Cal patients: 10 years under Welf. & Inst. Code s.14124.1.
- Licensed FACILITIES (clinics, health facilities, home health agencies, hospices) have a separate duty under Health & Safety Code s.123145 that applies precisely when the licensee ceases operation.
If you are closing, selling or relocating your practice California sets out what has to happen to patient records. The points below are taken from the source above.
- CALIFORNIA'S RETENTION RULE IS ITSELF A CLOSURE RULE, which is easy to miss. Health and Safety Code 123145(a), read at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov: providers licensed under sections 1205, 1253, 1575 and 1726 'have an obligation, IF THE LICENSEE CEASES OPERATION, to preserve records for a minimum of seven years following discharge of the patient, except that the records of unemancipated minors shall be kept at least one year after the minor has reached the age of 18 years, and in any case, not less than seven years.'
- The section defines records as ABANDONED where that preservation obligation is violated and patients are left without access to their medical records - so in California, failing to arrange a custodian has a named legal status.
- 123145 binds licensed FACILITIES - clinics, health facilities, home health agencies and hospices - not an individual physician's office. California sets no equivalent statutory retention period for a solo physician practice; the operative floors there are HIPAA's six years and the malpractice limitation period.
- No patient-notice or board-notice deadline is set by 123145.
California closing-practice checklist
The same requirements as a checklist you can print and work through, with the retention periods, the notice each rule requires and what you may charge for copies.
Open the California checklist →
Cost
- 25 cents per page plus reasonable clerical costs (Health & Safety Code s.123110).
Verified September 2026
Also referred to above
Cal. Health & Safety Code s.123145 (facilities ceasing operation)
This page summarises the source above and is not legal advice. Retention periods change and several states adjust their copying fees every year, so confirm the current text before you rely on a date or a figure.