US · guidance
CMS SOM App. A, Tag A-0439
§482.24(b)(1) - Medical records must be retained in their original or legally reproduced
form for a period of at least 5 years.
Interpretive Guidelines §482.24(b)(1)
Medical records are retained in their original or legally reproduced form in hard copy, microfilm,
computer memory, or other electronic storage media. The hospital must be able to promptly
retrieve the complete medical record of every individual evaluated or treated in any part or
location of the hospital within the last 5 years.
In accordance with Federal and State law and regulations, certain medical records may have
retention requirements that exceed 5 years (for example: FDA, OSHA, EPA).
Survey Procedures §482.24(b)(1)
• Determine that records are retained for at least 5 years, or more if required by State or
local laws.
• Select a sample of patients, both inpatient and outpatient who were patients of the
hospital between the previous 48-60 months. Request their medical record. Is it
promptly retrieved? Is it complete? Is it in original or in a legally reproduced form?
History
Rev. 37, Issued: 10-17-08; Effective/Implementation Date: 10-17-08
Provenance
- Source
- cms.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-07-22
- Edition
- som-2026-07-22
- Content hash
f5e2537ab7809d4b54a0d14939f457d4f09d1880f6c3af2fa72651dea98ec340
The link goes to the issuing authority’s own document — the one we read to produce this record. Where a source publishes whole titles rather than sections, your browser may need a moment to jump to the provision.
Unofficial copy of government-published law, reproduced from official sources with full provenance. Not an official publication; verify against official sources before relying on it in a filing. Records in the 'guidance' corpus, and only that corpus, are sub-regulatory (interpretive guidelines, survey procedures) and are not binding law. Validity bounds follow each jurisdiction's declared temporalBasis.