54.1-2405 - Transfer of patient records in conjunction with closure, sale, or relocation of practice; notice required.
§ 54.1-2405. Transfer of patient records in conjunction with closure, sale,or relocation of practice; notice required.
A. No person licensed, registered, or certified by one of the healthregulatory boards under the Department shall transfer records pertaining to acurrent patient in conjunction with the closure, sale or relocation of aprofessional practice until such person has first attempted to notify thepatient of the pending transfer, by mail, at the patient's last knownaddress, and by publishing prior notice in a newspaper of general circulationwithin the provider's practice area, as specified in § 8.01-324.
The notice shall specify that, at the written request of the patient or anauthorized representative, the records or copies will be sent, within areasonable time, to any other like-regulated provider of the patient's choiceor provided to the patient pursuant to § 32.1-127.1:03. The notice shall alsodisclose whether any charges will be billed by the provider for supplying thepatient or the provider chosen by the patient with the originals or copies ofthe patient's records. Such charges shall not exceed the actual costs ofcopying and mailing or delivering the records.
B. For the purposes of this section:
"Current patient" means a patient who has had a patient encounter with theprovider or his professional practice during the two-year period immediatelypreceding the date of the record transfer.
"Relocation of a professional practice" means the moving of a practicelocated in Virginia from the location at which the records are stored at thetime of the notice to another practice site that is located more than 30miles away or to another practice site that is located in another state orthe District of Columbia.
(1992, c. 759; 2003, cc. 912, 917; 2004, c. 53.)