New
Mexico Register / Volume XXXVI, Issue 24 / December 23, 2025
TITLE 16 OCCUPATIONAL
AND PROFESSIONAL LICENSING
CHAPTER 12 NURSING
AND HEALTH CARE RELATED PROVIDERS
PART 10 MANAGEMENT
OF HEALTH CARE RECORDS
16.12.10.1 ISSUING
AGENCY: New Mexico Board of Nursing.
[16.12.10.1 NMAC -
Rp, 16.12.10.1 NMAC 1/1/2026]
16.12.10.2 SCOPE: This
rule governs the use management of health care records (often also called
medical records) that are
created and maintained as part of the practice of an Advanced Practice
Registered Nurses (APRNs): certified nurse practitioner certified clinical
nurse specialist, and certified registered nurse anesthetist.
[16.12.10.2 NMAC -
Rp, 16.12.10.2 NMAC 1/1/2026]
16.12.10.3 STATUTORY
AUTHORITY: These rules are promulgated pursuant to the
Nursing Practice Act, Sections 61-3-1 to -30 NMSA 1978.
[16.12.10.3 NMAC -
Rp, 16.12.10.3 NMAC 1/1/2026
16.12.10.4 DURATION: Permanent.
[16.12.10.4 NMAC -
Rp, 16.12.10.4 NMAC 1/1/2026]
16.12.10.5 EFFECTIVE
DATE: January 1, 2026, unless a later date is cited
at the end of a section.
[16.12.10.5 NMAC -
Rp, 16.12.10.5 NMAC 1/1/2026]
16.12.10.6 OBJECTIVE: To
ensure that advanced practice registered nurses provide copies of health care
records to patients; notify their patients of closing, selling, relocating or
leaving a practice and having a system in place for retention, maintenance and
destruction of medical records.
[16.12.10.6 NMAC -
Rp, 16.12.10.6 NMAC 1/1/2026]
16.12.10.7 DEFINITIONS: [RESERVED]
[16.12.10.7 NMAC -
Rp, 16.12.10.7 NMAC 1/1/2026]
16.12.10.8 RELEASE
OF HEALTH CARE RECORDS: advanced practice registered nurses must
provide complete copies of medical records to a patient or to another
practitioner in a timely manner when legally requested to do so by the patient
or by a legally designated representative of the patient. This should occur with a minimum of
disruption in the continuity and quality of health care being provided to the
patient. If the health care records are
the property of a separate and independent organization, the practitioner should
act as the patient’s advocate and work to facilitate the patient’s request for
the records.
A. Health care
records may not be withheld because an account is overdue or a bill for
treatment, health care records, or other services is owed.
B. A reasonable
cost-based charge may be made for the cost of duplicating and mailing.
[16.12.10.8 NMAC -
Rp, 16.12.10.8 NMAC 1/1/2026]
16.12.10.9 CLOSING,
SELLING, RELOCATING OR LEAVING A PRACTICE: Due care should be taken when
closing or departing from a practice to ensure a smooth transition from the
current practitioner to the new treating practitioner. This should occur with a minimum of
disruption in the continuity and quality of health care being provided to the
patient.
A. Whenever
possible, active patients and patients seen within the previous three years
should be notified 90 days before closing, selling, relocating or leaving a
practice.
B. The executor of
the practitioner’s estate or their designee shall notify patients within at
least 30 days after the death of the practitioner and indicate how to obtain
patient records from the closed practice.
The method of notification is established in Subsection C of this
section.
C. Notification may be satisfied using any of the following methods:
(1) by placing a notice in at least one newspaper in the local practice area; notice should advise patients where their health care records will be stored; notice should include any pertinent information the patient may need for obtaining or transferring the records, including the name, mailing address and telephone number of a contact person with access to the stored records; notification should run a minimum of two times per month for three months to reach a maximum number of patients; or
(2) by written electronic mail; or
(3) by
individual correspondence to the patient’s last known physical or electronic
mail address.
D. A practitioner
should not withhold patient lists or other information from a departing
practitioner that is necessary for notification of patients.
E. Patients of a
practitioner who leaves a group practice should be notified when the
practitioner is leaving, notified of the practitioner’s new address, and
offered the opportunity to have their health care records transferred to the
departing practitioner at their new practice.
F. When a practice
is sold, all active patients should be notified that the practitioner is
transferring the practice to another practitioner of entity who will retain
custody of their records and that at their written request the records (or
copies) will be sent to another practitioner or entity of their choice.
G. When a practitioner closes a practice and the practice
retains an inventory of drugs, contact the board of pharmacy for proper
disposition, inventory, or inspection in accordance with the Pharmacy Act, the
Drug Device and Cosmetic Act, and the Controlled Substance Act.
H. A practitioner or group practice shall develop a
procedure for closing a practice and patient notification in the event a
practitioner becomes incompetent or deceased.
I. Failure to
notify patients of closing, selling, relocating, or leaving a practice may be a
violation of the nursing practice act and disciplinary action can occur
(16.12.12.9 NMAC).
[16.12.10.9 NMAC -
Rp, 16.12.10.9 NMAC 1/1/2026]
16.12.10.10 RETENTION,
MAINTENANCE AND DESTRUCTION OF HEALTH CARE RECORDS
A. Improper
management of health care records, including failure to maintain timely,
accurate, legible, and complete medical records constitutes a violation of
Paragraph (6) of Subsection A of Section 61.3.28 NMSA.
B. Destruction of
health care records must be such that confidentiality is maintained. Records must
be destroyed by shredding or incinerating (where permitted) or by other
method of permanent destruction, including purging of medical records from a
computer hard drive, server hard drive or other computer media or disk in
accordance with existing practices for data deletion then available.
C. A log must be
kept of all charts that were destroyed, including the patient’s name and date
of record destruction.
[16.12.10.10 NMAC -
Rp, 16.12.10.10 NMAC 1/1/2026]
HISTORY OF 16.12.10 NMAC:
History of
Repealed Material: 16.12.10 NMAC - Management Of Health Care Records filed 12/21/2005 Repealed effective
1/1/2026.
Other:
16.12.10 NMAC - Management Of Health Care Records filed
12/21/2005 Replaced by 16.12.10 NMAC - Management Of Health Care Records effective 1/1/2026.