For a practice that is closing, being sold, relocating or whose physician is retiring. Prepared 21 September 2026.
How long records must be kept
Adult patients
A minimum of 6 years.
Patients who were minors
No separate minors period in this statute.
Clock starts
The date the patient was last treated.
Also
Graphic matter, images and X-ray films needed to produce a diagnostic or therapeutic report: a minimum of 3 years - and they must be kept LONGER if the patient asks in writing.
Also
Records may be kept in original, microfilmed or similarly reproduced form.
Also
Medical records in a provider's office are the property and business records of the provider.
Before you close — what this state requires
THE STATUTE PUTS A PENALTY ON THE CUSTODIAN BY NAME. La. R.S. 40:1165.1(A)(2)(b)(iii): a provider must be given written notice of a records-access violation and three days to correct it, and where the violation is not based on a written communication, or no physical address for notices was given, 'THE NOTICE SHALL BE SENT BY CERTIFIED MAIL OR COMMERCIAL CARRIER TO THE CUSTODIAN OF MEDICAL RECORDS OF THE HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.' If not corrected within FIFTEEN DAYS of receipt, the violation carries a CIVIL PENALTY OF $500 PER VIOLATION plus attorney fees and costs at the court's discretion, payable to the requestor. Louisiana is the only state found so far that routes an enforcement notice to the custodian and attaches a per-violation money penalty behind it.
Records are the provider's property and business records (A)(2)(a), so a custodianship transfers the holder, not the ownership - worth being precise about in an agreement.
Louisiana State Medical Society guidance (a trade-association document, NOT law, and it says so on its face) recommends: a notice letter stating how records can be obtained or transferred, an authorisation form, and WHERE THE RECORDS WILL BE STORED AFTER THE PRACTICE IS CLOSED; a notice posted in the waiting area; telling patients at appointments and on calls; specialised notice for patients unable to communicate or with cognitive problems; and a letter BY CERTIFIED MAIL to every patient with a serious or chronic condition. It frames all of it around abandonment - a physician cannot unilaterally end the relationship without adequate notice and enough time for the patient to find a new physician.
Where a records custodian fits
Louisiana law addresses a records custodian directly in the items above. Morgan Records Management performs this role; the duties below are the ones that transfer to, or must be evidenced by, whoever holds the records.
THE STATUTE PUTS A PENALTY ON THE CUSTODIAN BY NAME. La. R.S. 40:1165.1(A)(2)(b)(iii): a provider must be given written notice of a records-access violation and three days to correct it, and where the violation is not based on a written communication, or no physical address for notices was given, 'THE NOTICE SHALL BE SENT BY CERTIFIED MAIL OR COMMERCIAL CARRIER TO THE CUSTODIAN OF MEDICAL RECORDS OF THE HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.' If not corrected within FIFTEEN DAYS of receipt, the violation carries a CIVIL PENALTY OF $500 PER VIOLATION plus attorney fees and costs at the court's discretion, payable to the requestor. Louisiana is the only state found so far that routes an enforcement notice to the custodian and attaches a per-violation money penalty behind it.
Records are the provider's property and business records (A)(2)(a), so a custodianship transfers the holder, not the ownership - worth being precise about in an agreement.
What Louisiana does not require
Stated so nobody infers a duty that is not there.
No statutory closure-notice deadline was located in 40:1165.1 itself.
What you may charge for copies
$1.00 per page for the first 25 pages, 50 cents for pages 26-350, 25 cents thereafter.
A handling charge of up to $25.00 - and only ONE handling charge per request; billing records may not be split off to charge again.
Digital copies: same per-page rate but capped at $100 total, plus actual postage.
X-rays and imaging: reasonable reproduction cost plus $20 handling for hospitals, $10 for other providers; digital capped at $200.
A certification page is free on request. No other fee is permitted except notary and contracted expedite fees.
Read this before you act on it. Every statement above was taken from the state's own published rule or statute and is quoted or closely paraphrased from it. It is a working checklist, not legal advice, and it is a snapshot: retention periods change, and several states adjust their copying fees every year. Confirm the current text with the source listed above, or with your attorney, before you rely on a date or a dollar figure.
Figures stated as of: Verified September 2026
Prepared by Morgan Records Management for Louisiana. Checklist built 21 September 2026.