Oregon
Medical Records Custodian & Retention Laws
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Oregon Medical Record Retention Law:
Oregon Medical Board, Patient Records
- Adult patients: The Oregon Medical Board's figure is 10 years, and the Board states plainly that this is GUIDANCE, not a Board requirement - it exists to cover the statute of limitations.
- Patients who were minors: Not addressed by the Board's guidance.
- The retention period runs from: The patient's last contact with the licensee.
- It covers deceased patients too.
- The Board also suggests retaining the records of all living patients indefinitely if space permits.
- The BINDING Oregon rule is not a retention period at all - it is the 45-day notice duty set out in the closure section.
If you are closing, selling or relocating your practice Oregon sets out what has to happen to patient records. The points below are taken from the source above.
- OAR 847-012-0000(4), BINDING: a licensee who has retired, failed to renew, relocated the practice out of the area, had a licence revoked, or been suspended for a year or more MUST notify each patient seen within the previous two years AND the Oregon Medical Board of the change in status and how patients may access or obtain their records. In writing, by regular mail, to each patient's last known address, WITHIN 45 DAYS of the change in status.
- OAR 847-012-0000(5): a licensee suspended for less than a year must notify the Board within 10 days how patients may access their records.
- OMB closing-a-practice guidance: notify patients by letter with the effective date; tell them where the records are and how to access them; tell the BOARD where the records are and how to access them; advise that records will be forwarded to the provider of their choice on a signed release.
Oregon 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 Oregon checklist →
Cost OAR 847-012-0000 (access, fees, and the closure notice duty)
- No more than $30 for copying 10 or fewer pages; no more than 50 cents per page for pages 11-50; no more than 25 cents for each additional page.
- A $5 bonus charge if the records are processed and mailed first class within seven business days of the request.
- Postage, the actual cost of preparing a summary if requested, and the actual cost of reproducing films, X-rays or non-written reports.
- A patient may NOT be denied copies for inability to pay. Requests must be met within 30 days.
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.