If you’re closing a practice in Nova Scotia, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia (CPSNS) expects you to give patients who would reasonably expect ongoing care no less than three months’ notice of an elective closure, tell the College and the organizations around your practice, and arrange for your patients’ records to be kept and accessible afterwards. Records Management Ltd. works with physicians across Nova Scotia, and this guide walks through the steps.
What the standard asks for
The CPSNS standard Temporarily or permanently closing a medical practice (approved October 2025) sets these expectations for an elective closure:
- Notice to patients: no less than three months in advance for patients who would reasonably expect ongoing care. For an unplanned closure, such as sudden illness, notice goes out by phone or mail as soon as the closure is known.
- What the notice says: where patients can get urgent care, and how they can get information from their medical records. For patients seen in the past year, acceptable methods include a letter, phone call, email or e-message. For patients not seen in the past year, a printed office notice, newspaper advertisement, answering machine message or online notice can work.
- Who else to tell: referral partners, hospitals where you hold privileges, employers, the Nova Scotia Prescription Monitoring Program, Medical Services Insurance, the CMPA, Doctors Nova Scotia, and the College itself, with a forwarding address.
- Your records: you tell the College the name and location of the custodian of your chart materials, and you arrange for the records to be retained or transferred. The College strongly encourages keeping original records.
How long records are kept
The College endorses the CMPA recommendation to keep records at least 10 years from the date of the last entry. For minors, the period runs 10 years from the time the patient would have reached the age of majority, which is 19 in Nova Scotia. Patients keep the right to access their records under the Personal Health Information Act. For an elective closure, patients sign an authorization form to release their records.
A practical timeline
- 6 months out: pick your closing date, decide whether a successor is taking over, and call us first. Before you transfer any charts or tell patients where to send record requests, talk to us; an early call lets us plan the simplest and most cost-effective arrangement for your practice.
- At least 3 months out: send patient notices. Notify referral partners, hospitals and employers.
- Before you close: notify the College and the other organizations on the list. We notify the College of the new location of your records and can notify your referral partners on your behalf.
- After you close: record requests continue for years. Someone needs to receive, verify and answer them.
How Records Management Ltd. helps
We manage your patient records on your behalf: we notify your patients by mailed letter and phone outreach, tell the College where your records are now held, can notify your referral network of the change, store and manage your paper and EMR charts, answer each record request that follows (most within a week), and securely destroy records at the end of the retention period, with a Record of Destruction for your files.
Closing a practice in Nova Scotia? Call us before any charts move.
Related reading
- Medical practice closure services
- What happens to patient records when a doctor retires, sells or closes
- Closing your medical practice in Ontario: checklist
Sources and further reading
This article is general information, not legal advice. Check the current CPSNS standard for the exact requirements that apply to you.