If your doctor is retiring, you can—and should—place a medical records request now

While the actual, physical embodiment of your medical record belongs to the doctor, the content of the record belongs to you and is vital for your medical care. If your doctor is retiring, you need to be sure that you capture this valuable information about your medical history now so that it will be available to your next doctor. Fortunately, medical records retrieval is easy with help from My Retired Doctor. We’ll help you place your medical records request with your retiring doctor and facilitate the medical record retrieval and transfer to your new doctor.

What Happens When a Doctor Retires?

When a doctor retires, passes away, or otherwise closes their practice and leaves the profession, they are required to set up a medical records custodian to take care of their patients’ records. Your doctor or their representative will notify you of the time frame for this change and provide instructions for accessing your medical records. Depending on the records custodian, it may be simple or difficult to get your records, and they may arrive in a timely manner or take forever to be transferred. By working through My Retired Doctor to place your medical records request, you can avoid dealing with these potential hassles personally.

What If I Don’t Place My Medical Records Request Quickly Enough?

In general, doctors and medical facilities are required to keep patient records for 6 or 7 years. This will vary by state. So even if you forget to place your medical records request before your doctor officially retires, you will still be able to access your records for some time. However, it’s always better to be safe than sorry, so you should make a point of requesting your records right away so there is no chance of them being lost during the closure of your doctor’s practice or the transfer to the records custodian.

Why Should I Use My Retired Doctor for Medical Record Retrieval?

My Retired Doctor makes it easy for patients to get copies of their complete medical records from their retiring physician. We maintain strict patient privacy standards, and we can return your records in a paper format or on a CD. You can also use My Retired Doctor for medical record retrieval any time you need your medical records for any reason—whether it is for your own personal record-keeping or for the purposes of switching doctors or seeing a specialist. Just fill out our convenient online order form to get started.