← Oregon medical records custodian and retention laws

Oregon — 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

Before you close — what this state requires

• 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.

What you may charge for copies

• 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.

Where this comes from

• Oregon Medical Board, Patient Records
  https://www.oregon.gov/omb/topics-of-interest/pages/patient-records.aspx
• OAR 847-012-0000 (access, fees, and the closure notice duty)
  https://www.oregon.gov/omb/Topics-of-Interest/Documents/OMB%20Information%20Sheet%20Patient%20Records.pdf