N.M. Admin. Code 16.10.17.10 – Retention, Maintenance and Destruction of Medical Records

Physicians must retain the medical records they own for at least ten (10) years after the date of last treatment or the time frame set state or federal law or regulation. The records of minors must be retained until the patient is twenty-one (21) years old. If converted to electronic form, a physician must retain the hard copy of a record for 30 days. Physicians must keep billing information for at least two (2) years after the date of last treatment. Improper management of medical records violates §61-6-15.D(33).

Physicians must provide every patient with a written copy of their policy or their employer’s policy for medical record retention, maintenance and destruction.

Written medical record policies shall include:

• The responsible entity/agent to contact to obtain records or request transfer of records, telephone number and mailing address;
• How the records can be obtained or transferred;
• How long the records will be maintained before they are destroyed; and
• The cost of obtaining copies of records, and of recovering records/transferring records.

Electronic medical record policies will specify: 

• The responsible entity/agent to obtain records, requests for transfer of records, telephone number and mailing address;
• How the records can be obtained or transferred;
• How long the records will be maintained before they are destroyed or purged
• A data backup plan, disaster recovery plan and storage which ensures retrievability into reasonably usable form on a timely basis upon any request; and
• Transfer of data via electronic file with appropriate safeguards to ensure patient confidentiality.

The board adopts ethical standards regarding record retention and maintenance set forth in the latest published version of the “code of medical ethics current opinions with annotations” of the AMA. Physicians are to use professional discretion in determining how long to retain records.

Records must destroyed in a manner that ensures confidentiality is preserved. 

A log must be kept of all charts destroyed, including the patient’s name and date of record destruction in accordance and under the same time frame established in Subsection D of this regulation.