What happens to patient records when a medical practice changes hands?

Patient records don't just transfer like office furniture. A departing physician remains subject to the same professional and privacy obligations toward those records whether or not a sale happens, and a purchase agreement for a medical practice needs to spell out who becomes the record custodian going forward, how patients are notified of the change, and how continuity of care is maintained during the handover.

In practice, this usually means the incoming physician (or the corporation operating the practice) takes over custody of the existing patient charts, subject to the retention obligations that already applied to them, while patients are given a clear opportunity to consent to the transfer of their records or to request they be sent elsewhere if they choose not to stay with the new practitioner. Patients generally cannot simply be told their records are "included" in the sale without any notice or choice.

Because a college's specific notice and consent expectations for a practice transfer can be detailed, and because getting them wrong can trigger a privacy complaint even after the deal has otherwise closed smoothly, this is an area where the purchase agreement and a parallel patient-communication plan should be reviewed together before closing, not treated as an afterthought.