Custodian Of Medical Records Laws in Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Medical Records Custodian & Retention Laws

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Wisconsin Medical Record Retention Law:
Wis. Stat. s.146.819 (preservation or destruction of patient health care records)

Adult patients: Wisconsin's main duty for a closing practice is not a retention period at all - see the closure section.
The '7 years after treatment / minors until 19' figures sometimes cited for Wisconsin come from Wis. Admin. Code ch. DHS 92, which implements Wis. Stat. ch. 51 - the mental health act - and governs confidentiality of treatment records.
Wis. Stat. s.146.83 covers patient access and sets no retention period.
What Wisconsin does set is what a provider ceasing practice must do with the records - see the closure section.

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

Wis. Stat. 146.819: a health care provider who ceases practice must do one of the following with patient health care records: provide for their maintenance by a person who states in writing that the records will be maintained in compliance with ss. 146.81 to 146.835; arrange for their deletion or destruction; or divide the records between maintenance and destruction.
That written statement is what a records custodian provides: the statute specifies what the custodian must commit to in writing.
If the records are to be maintained, the provider must either send written notice by first-class mail describing where the records will be kept, or publish a class 3 newspaper notice in the county where the practice was located.
Before destruction, at least 35 days' written notice to the patient's last-known address.

Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin checklist →

Also referred to above
Wis. Stat. s.146.83 (patient access)

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.