Custodian Of Medical Records Laws in Ohio

Ohio

Medical Records Custodian & Retention Laws

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Ohio Medical Record Retention Law:
Ohio Rev. Code s.4731.228 (notice on termination, sale or retirement)

Adult patients: No Ohio retention period is stated here. For a closing practice, Ohio's patient-notice duty in ORC 4731.228 is set out below.

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

ORC 4731.228: when a physician's employment with a health care entity terminates for any reason, notice must be sent to each patient who received physician services from that physician in the two-year period immediately preceding the termination date.
Deadline: not later than the date of termination, or thirty days after the entity has actual knowledge of the termination or resignation, whichever is later.
Who sends it: the health care entity, unless it gives the physician the patient contact information, in which case it may require the physician to send it.
It also binds the independent physician: a physician who is an independent contractor, or who practises at an entity that is not a health care entity, or who has an ownership interest in one, must give the same notice when leaving, selling or retiring - to all patients seen in the two years preceding their last date of seeing patients.
Required content includes the effective date, the physician's name and contact information, contact details for alternative physicians or group practices, and information enabling the patient to obtain information on their medical records.
Exemptions exist for emergency and episodic care, hospices, medical residents, community mental health providers and federally qualified health centres.

Ohio closing-practice checklist
The same requirements as a checklist you can print and work through, with the retention periods and the notice each rule requires.
Open the Ohio checklist →

Verified September 2026

This page summarises the source above and is not legal advice. Retention periods change, so confirm the current text before you rely on a date or a period.