Custodian Of Medical Records Laws in Louisiana

Louisiana

Medical Records Custodian & Retention Laws

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Louisiana Medical Record Retention Law:
La. R.S. 40:1165.1 (Healthcare information; records)

Adult patients: A minimum of 6 years.
Patients who were minors: No separate minors period in this statute.
The retention period runs from: The date the patient was last treated.
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.
Records may be kept in original, microfilmed or similarly reproduced form.
Medical records in a provider's office are the property and business records of the provider.

If you are closing, selling or relocating your practice
Louisiana sets out what has to happen to patient records. The points below are taken from the source above.

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.
No statutory closure-notice deadline was located in 40:1165.1 itself.

Louisiana 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 Louisiana checklist →

Cost

$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.

Verified September 2026

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.