retired doctors archive records?

Question

there is a general medicine dr. that has retired. the thing is that i need copies of my accident that he treated me for 10 years ago. i just found out theat he has left his practice. he was the only dr. he never worked with anyone else. the place is closed down and i don't know where to go to get copies of my records. can someone tell me if his records get thrown away or is he mandated by law to keep the records somewhere, if so who do i contact.

Answer 1

I used to work in a doctors office and heard this problem all of the time....the bad thing is, there may not be anything you can do about it. Do you remember any of the people's names who worked in the office (i.e. secretary, or nurse)? If so, you might be able to get in touch with them. Your records are probably sitting in a storage building somewhere. Try contacting any of the hospitals he may have been affiliated with, any office you may have been sent to for testing, or any speacialist he may have sent you to. Most of the time when you are referred to a specialist, or for testing, that office will require your doc to send his consult notes along. Good luck with finding your records!

Answer 2

It depends on the state. Some medical facilities will keep their records forever. Others may not have to. In Virginia, there is a requirement that medical records be maintained for 10 years. After that, they can be destroyed.

When a doctor leaves his practice, he has to transfer care of his patients over to another community physician. The records would be transferred over as well. You could try calling the local hospital, they might have records of who took over for this guys patients.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Try the medical association of whatever province you're from. (Eg, if in BC it's the BCMA). First try the local hospital administration office.