Closing Your Practice

When you decide to retire, change practice locations, or close your practice, ensuring as smooth a transition as possible is important for your patients' continued care and your mental well-being. There are some critical steps to take. 

Notifying patients

• Patients must be notified when: 
  
  • there is a new physician taking over.
  • you are joining/forming/leaving a group practice.
  • you are retiring or closing the practice without a replacement. 
• It’s important to notify active patients and patients requiring ongoing care.
• A Patient Panel Assessment can assist with determining which patients are considered active and should therefore be notified of your plans at least three months in advance. For information on how to receive in-practice EMR support and compensation contact the Practice Support Program (PSP) at View Email Addresspsp@doctorsofbc.ca. More information can be found on the FPSC's Panel Management program website.
• Notifications can include:
  • A letter or email including departure date, replacement physician (if applicable), and information on how to access to medical records.
    • Departure announcement - new physician takeover
    • Departure announcement - no new physician to takeover
    • Departure announcement - searching for replacement physician
  • A printed notice in waiting area.
    • Departure notice - printable office poster
  • A notice on website and/or community newspaper.
    • Departure notice - professional association
• The College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC (CPSBC) outlines notification requirements and documentation efforts in the Leaving Practice Standard. 

Notifying others

• The College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC (CPSBC) must be notified with as much advance warning as possible via the Resignation and Retirement form.    
• Other professional associations to consider notifying include:    
  • BC Medical Services Plan
  • Canadian Medical Protective Association
  • Pathways BC
  • Regular consulting/referring colleagues. This notification template can help craft messaging to your colleagues.
  • LifeLabs and/or any diagnostic facilities that frequently receiving reports from you.
  • Hospitals, facilities, and/or residential care homes
  • Pharmacies
  • Doctors of BC Members Services
  • Doctors of BC Insurance
  • Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for payroll and corporate tax status, if applicable.
  • WorkSafeBC, if applicable.
  • ICBC, if applicable.   

• It is important to ensure that your departure is not only widely communicated to your patients, but also among colleagues, health care partners, and professional associations. The following templates can help you communicate your plans for retirement or other leave to the right people.

  • Departure notice - colleagues
  • Departure notice - professional association
  • Departure notice - sample voicemail script

Organizing medical records 

• Notify the College of the location and accessibility options for all medical records.
• Patients should also be notified of the location of their medical records and how they can be accessed (see above).
• Ownership of medical records does not end when leaving a practice and the obligations of security, confidentiality, accessibility, and retention still apply; however, ownership can be delegated through a mutual written, signed agreement.
• A plan should be made for the maintenance and retention of medical records in the event of an unanticipated departure. Ensure medical record storage and retention is included in your estate planning.
• Medical records must be stored in a safe, secure place for at least 16 years from the date of the last entry. Records for minors must be kept for at least 16 years from the age of majority (19 years of age).
• After the retention period has ended, records should be confidentially destroyed. 
• The transfer of medical records can be made to:
  
  • Another physician with consent of the patient.
  • A storage facility remaining in custody of original physician.  
• MedRecords offers digitization, storage, and legal destruction of medical records. 
• For more details on medical record management, see the CPSBC Medical Records Management Practice Standard. 

Planning for retirement

• Get step-by-step financial planning assistance from MD Financial Management using the Your Guide to Retirement Planning guide.

Other helpful resources

BC Resources

• College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC – Practice Standard: Leaving Practice
  
  • CPSBC must be notified via writing of your intentions of leaving practice using the Resignation and Retirement form.
• Canadian Medical Protective Association – Tips for family physicians closing practice
• Doctors of BC – Guidelines for protecting medical records when leaving a practice
• MD Financial Management - Closing your medical practice in BC

For professional advice on retirement and estate planning, contact MD Financial Management.

Divisions of Family Practice Resources

• Vancouver Division – How to Retire Guide
• Richmond Division – Practice Transition Toolkit
• South Island Division – Succession Planning Guide