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Committee OKs bill recognizing electronic medical records as legally sufficient in most circumstances
Summary
SB137 would make electronic medical records legally equivalent to hard‑copy records in Arkansas beginning in 2025 except where federal law requires paper retention; the committee approved the bill without recorded opposition.
The committee advanced Senate Bill 137, which clarifies that, beginning in 2025, electronic medical records are legally sufficient substitutes for hard‑copy health care records in Arkansas except where federal law requires otherwise.
Sponsor Justin Boyd said the measure is intended to align Arkansas with practices adopted in other states and to reduce recordkeeping burdens where federal rules do not require paper retention. He said stakeholders including the hospital association, pharmacy association and medical society had been consulted and no opposition had been raised at the time of the hearing.
Boyd explained the bill would not preempt federal requirements — for example, pharmacies handling Schedule II prescriptions would still follow federal retention rules — but would allow documents such as routine prescriptions and facility records that are not federally mandated to be stored electronically.
Committee members raised no recorded objections, no members signed up to testify against the bill, and the committee approved SB137 by voice vote.
