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Board files amended patient-records regulations with OLRC after vote
Summary
The Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure voted to forward amended regulations on medical record retention to the Occupational Licensure Review Commission (OLRC) for review and finalization; the changes implement a 10-year minimum retention requirement set by statute and increase imaging retention from three to five years.
The State Board of Medical Licensure voted May 22 to file proposed amendments to the board’s medical-record retention regulations with the Occupational Licensure Review Commission (OLRC), the next step in formal rulemaking.
Board counsel explained the rule changes had been approved by the board at its March meeting and posted for public comment; no public comments were received during the posting period. The proposed amendments implement requirements in state legislation (Senate Bill 2873 was cited during the discussion) and consolidate cross-references in different rules to a single retention standard. The board’s staff told members that the amended rules would set a minimum medical-record retention period consistent with statute (a minimum of 10 years) and that the only substantive change beyond the statutory minimum would be to increase the retention period for imaging studies from three years to five years.
The board’s attorney outlined the commission review process: if OLRC approves the changes they will be published and become final 30 days after publication. The board then voted to authorize staff to file the proposed rules with OLRC; the motion carried.
Board members asked whether electronic records could be preserved indefinitely and were told that retention can depend on systems but that the statutory minimum applies “regardless of form.” The vote to advance the rules was a filing decision, not an adoption of final, permanent regulations; the OLRC review is the next procedural step.
The board’s action reflects a statutory directive and clarifies the board’s record-retention policy and its expectation for licensees to keep imaging records longer than the prior three-year benchmark.
