How Long Providers Must Keep Your Medical Records

How long does a provider have to keep your records?

There is no one federal number. How long a provider must keep your medical records is set mainly by two things: the law of the state where they practice, and the rules of any federal program they participate in. Those minimums differ, and the longest one that applies is the one that governs. Your national right is a separate thing — it is the right to inspect and obtain a copy for as long as the record still exists 1Ref 1U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (2024).Individuals' Right under HIPAA to Access their Health Information.The HIPAA right to inspect and obtain a copy of your records while the covered entity still holds them, the general 30-day response window with one 30-day extension, and that any fee must be reasonable and cost-based., including electronic copies at no cost 2Ref 2Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) (2020).ONC's Cures Act Final Rule.That patients can access their electronic health information, including notes and test results, at no cost, and that health IT actors may not lawfully obstruct that access under the Cures Act information-blocking prohibition..

The retention clock is set by state law; the right to a copy is federal.

That distinction matters because the two questions get confused. "How long must they keep it" is answered by your state and by programs like Medicare that a provider chooses to join. "Can I get it while they have it" is answered by federal law, and the answer is yes.

Why there is no single national retention rule

HIPAA is often assumed to set a retention period. It does not set one for the medical record itself. HIPAA governs your right to access records and the privacy and security of them; how long the record has to be kept is set mostly by state law and by the conditions of federal programs the provider participates in. When more than one rule applies, the longest retention period controls.

That is why the answer to your records retention period question genuinely changes by state and by facility type:

• State law typically sets a minimum for physicians, hospitals, and other licensed facilities, and the number is not the same across state lines.
• Federal program rules add their own floors for providers who bill those programs.
• Record type can carry its own clock — imaging, laboratory and pathology material, billing records, and mental-health records are sometimes kept for different lengths than the main chart.

Because the rules stack, a hospital in one state and a solo practice in the next can lawfully keep records for very different lengths of time.

How long are a child's records kept?

Records made when a patient was a minor are generally kept longer than an adult's, and the clock is often measured differently. Many state rules count the retention period not from the date of the last visit but from the date the child reaches the age of majority, which pushes the destruction date years further out. The specific length still comes from your state, not from a national standard.

A few situations tend to extend retention or matter more than usual:

• Records tied to a birth, a serious childhood illness, or an ongoing condition a person may need to document as an adult.
• Immunization records, which are often held or registered separately and are worth requesting directly.
• Any record connected to an open legal or insurance matter, which can be held until that matter closes.

If a family member may need a childhood record decades later, the reliable move is the same one adults should make: request a copy and keep it, rather than counting on the provider to still hold it.

What your right of access covers while the record exists

For as long as a provider holds your record, you have an enforceable right to see it and get a copy. A covered entity generally must act on your request within 30 days, with one 30-day extension allowed if it tells you why 1Ref 1U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (2024).Individuals' Right under HIPAA to Access their Health Information.The HIPAA right to inspect and obtain a copy of your records while the covered entity still holds them, the general 30-day response window with one 30-day extension, and that any fee must be reasonable and cost-based.. It must give you the record in the form and format you ask for when that is readily producible, and any fee it charges must be reasonable and cost-based — limited to the labor of copying, supplies, and postage 1Ref 1U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (2024).Individuals' Right under HIPAA to Access their Health Information.The HIPAA right to inspect and obtain a copy of your records while the covered entity still holds them, the general 30-day response window with one 30-day extension, and that any fee must be reasonable and cost-based..

Electronic health information, including notes and test results, must be available to you at no cost, and a health IT actor may not lawfully obstruct that access 2Ref 2Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) (2020).ONC's Cures Act Final Rule.That patients can access their electronic health information, including notes and test results, at no cost, and that health IT actors may not lawfully obstruct that access under the Cures Act information-blocking prohibition..

This is the practical takeaway of the whole page: retention is finite and varies, but your access right is strong while the record is still there. The window to act is the years the provider is required to keep it — and getting your own copy freezes that window in your favor.

The safest move: get your own copies before records age out

Because retention is limited, the reliable protection is a personal copy. Patients are entitled to copies of their records, and keeping and transferring copies of records, imaging, and scans is a normal part of care — for example when you change clinicians or seek a second opinion 3Ref 3MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine (NIH) (2024).Your cancer diagnosis - Do you need a second opinion?.That patients are entitled to copies of their records and should keep and transfer copies of records, imaging, and scans, for example when changing clinicians or seeking a second opinion.. You are also entitled to your pathology materials, and requesting them is expected, not unusual 4Ref 4American Cancer Society (2024).Seeking a Second Opinion.That patients are entitled to copies of their own records and pathology materials and that requesting them is a normal, expected part of care..

A short, durable set is enough for most needs. When you assemble records for a second opinion, the same collection doubles as your permanent file:

• Visit notes and discharge summaries for anything significant.
• Laboratory, pathology, and imaging reports — and the imaging itself where you can get it.
• Your active medication and allergy list, and your immunization history.

If you later discover records are lost medical records or arrive incomplete, there are ways to rebuild a history from pharmacies, other clinicians, insurers, and imaging centers. And if the practice that held them has closed, records from a closed practice usually pass to a custodian you can still reach.

Where to find your state's specific retention period

The exact number for your situation lives in your state's rules, not in a national table. Two public places carry it: the statute or regulation your state medical board enforces, and the board's own patient guidance. Both also spell out what a provider may charge, since a state medical records copying fee statute frequently sets the copy fee ceiling alongside the retention minimum.

To look it up:

• Search your state medical board or department of health for "medical record retention" and "records copy fee."
• Note two numbers: the minimum retention period for your record type, and the maximum copy fee, which caps what you can be charged for medical record copies even below the federal reasonable-cost standard.
• Confirm whether the clock runs from the last visit or, for a child, from the age of majority.

State-by-state specifics — including what a state like Alabama sets for record fees in alabama — belong on their own pages. This one gives you the framework: no single federal number, a state-set minimum, a federal right to a copy while the record lasts, and one dependable habit — request and keep your own copies now.