Q. I will be retiring soon. What should I keep in mind, liability-wise, about closing my practice?
A. There are several risk management suggestions to employ when closing or retiring from a practice. From a medical professional liability standpoint, your most important responsibilities are to:

• Notify your patients in advance so as to provide for continuity of care and avoid potential abandonment claims.
• Safeguard the integrity of your medical records and the confidentiality of your patients’ health information by making appropriate arrangements for custodianship of their medical records.

Risk management experts generally recommend 60 to 90 days written notice by mail to each active patient’s last known address. If retiring from a group practice, remaining physicians in the group may assume care of most or all of your patients, so it is recommended you tell patients they may remain with the same practice and switch to another physician in the group. Remember to tell patients they are free to seek a physician outside the group should they wish to do so. If retiring from a solo practice and you have arranged for another physician in the area to assume care for your patients, advise patients of the physician or practice name and location. If you have not made arrangements for another physician in the area to assume care of your patients, encourage patients to seek a new physician as soon as possible. Notification via newspaper advertisements is a good idea as well.

Regarding medical records, obligations to maintain records in a safe, secure and confidential manner do not cease when a physician retires or a practice is closed. Records may be maintained in several ways, including:

• Patient charts maintained in the custody of the group practice from which you retire.
• Transfer of the patient records to the physician who will assume care of the patients.
• Maintain custody of the patient charts yourself and/or with the assistance of a records storage service.
• Encourage your practice administration professionals to review schedules for the previous month or so and ensure arrangements for appropriate follow-up on diagnostics and consults have been made.

Prior to making the above arrangements, it is a good idea to seek legal and risk management advice for your specific situation.

Indiana has specific and mandatory legal requirements regarding closing a practice and medical record retention. For more information, visit ISMA’s Legal Resources pages at www.ismanet.org/LegalFAQ.

Physicians insured by ProAssurance may contact our Risk Resource department for prompt answers to liability questions by calling (844) 223.9648 or via email at RiskAdvisor@ProAssurance.com.