Virginia
Medical Records Custodian & Retention Laws
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Virginia Medical Record Retention Law:
Va. Code s.54.1-2910.4
- Adult patients: A minimum of 6 years.
- Patients who were minors: Until the child reaches 18 or becomes emancipated, with a minimum of 6 years from the last patient encounter.
- The retention period runs from: The last patient encounter.
- Records need not be kept longer than 12 years from creation.
- The duty ENDS for records already transferred to another practitioner or provided to the patient.
If you are closing, selling or relocating your practice Virginia sets out what has to happen to patient records. The points below are taken from the source above.
- Va. Code 54.1-2405, BINDING AND DIRECTLY ON POINT: no person licensed by the Department of Health Professions may transfer records in conjunction with the CLOSURE, SALE OR RELOCATION of a professional practice until notice has been given.
- Notice must be made by electronic communication OR mail to the patient's last known address, AND by publication in a NEWSPAPER OF GENERAL CIRCULATION in the practice area.
- The notice must say that records or copies will be sent within a reasonable time to any other like-regulated provider of the patient's choice, or to the patient, and that charges shall NOT EXCEED ACTUAL COSTS of copying and mailing.
- 'Current patient' for this purpose means a patient seen in the TWO YEARS immediately preceding the record transfer.
- The section does NOT address the death of a practitioner - a real gap worth stating rather than glossing.
Virginia 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 Virginia checklist →
Cost
No state copying-fee schedule was located for Virginia. Charges should be reasonable and cost-based.
Verified September 2026
Also referred to above
Va. Code s.54.1-2405 (transfer of records on closure, sale or relocation)
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.