← Massachusetts medical records custodian and retention laws

Massachusetts — Medical Records Checklist

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 7 years.
Patients who were minors: Either 7 years from the last patient encounter or until the patient reaches 18, whichever is the LONGER period.
Clock starts: The date of the last patient encounter.
Also: A retiring physician OR THE PHYSICIAN'S SUCCESSOR must maintain the records for the same 7 years.

Before you close — what this state requires

THE CLOSURE DUTY IS ONE SENTENCE AND IT NAMES THE SUCCESSOR: 'A RETIRING PHYSICIAN OR HIS SUCCESSOR must maintain patient records for seven years from the date of the last patient encounter.' Massachusetts puts the retention duty on the custodian directly - retiring does not end it, and handing the records to a custodian does not end it either - it transfers it.
Physicians must turn patient records over to the Board on request (G.L. c. 112 s.5), with no patient authorisation needed and no liability for doing so - a duty a custodian has to be able to satisfy years later.

Where a records custodian fits

Massachusetts 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 CLOSURE DUTY IS ONE SENTENCE AND IT NAMES THE SUCCESSOR: 'A RETIRING PHYSICIAN OR HIS SUCCESSOR must maintain patient records for seven years from the date of the last patient encounter.' Massachusetts puts the retention duty on the custodian directly - retiring does not end it, and handing the records to a custodian does not end it either - it transfers it.
Physicians must turn patient records over to the Board on request (G.L. c. 112 s.5), with no patient authorisation needed and no liability for doing so - a duty a custodian has to be able to satisfy years later.

What Massachusetts does not require

Stated so nobody infers a duty that is not there.

No advance patient-notice period, newspaper notice or board notification was located on the Board's page - so unlike New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wyoming or Kansas, Massachusetts sets no closure NOTICE mechanics. Say that rather than implying a duty that is not there.

What you may charge for copies

For physicians not covered by HIPAA: a base fee of $15.00 per request, 50 cents per page for the first 100 pages and 25 cents per page beyond 100, adjustable by CPI.
No fee at all where the request supports a Social Security Act claim or a needs-based benefit program.
Records may not be withheld over an unpaid medical bill, though copying costs may be required up front.
Turnaround: HIPAA allows 30 days (60 if off-site), extendable once by 30 with written reasons. For physicians outside HIPAA the Board reads 'timely manner' as two to three weeks.

Where this comes from

Board of Registration in Medicine, Medical Records Obligations
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/medical-records-obligations
G.L. c. 112 s.12CC and 243 CMR 2.07(13)
https://www.mass.gov/regulations/243-CMR-200-licensing-and-the-practice-of-medicine

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: The Board's page is revised 02 April 2012; treat fee figures as CPI-adjustable. Verified September 2026

Prepared by Morgan Records Management for Massachusetts. Checklist built 21 September 2026.