Professional Predicaments

Answer:

There are multiple elements to consider in this question. These include determining who is responsible for the records, ensuring that the documentation is compliant with relevant requirements, and managing records when closing or transferring a practice.

To determine the steps to take with your records, you will need to determine who ‘owns’ the records. This should be established in your agreement with the agency. If ‘ownership’ of records is not stated in your contractual agreement, it should be discussed and documented to ensure responsibilities are clearly defined for both parties.

As a regulated member, you are responsible for familiarizing yourself with appropriate privacy legislation and responsibilities. This is particularly important if engaging in independent practice, e.g. private practice or independent contracting. Applicable legislation depends on multiple factors, including who ‘owns’ the records. An overview of relevant legislation can be found in ACSLPA’s Professional Predicaments article from October 2025 and links to all applicable legislation are available here.

Regardless of who ‘owns’ the records, you are expected to maintain records in compliance with legislation and regulatory requirements. For further details on documentation requirements, refer to Standard of Practice 4.3 and ACSLPA’s Clinical Documentation and Record Keeping Guideline.

The steps to take when your contract ends depend on whether you or the agency are responsible for the records. Additionally, after service ends records must be retained, often for 11 years and 3 months, depending on the client. See indicator S in Standard of Practice 4.3 for more details.

If the agency ‘owns’ the records, they are responsible for managing the records in the long term, regardless of whether service is being discontinued or if service is continuing with a new provider. In this case, you would need to ensure that your records are complete prior to the end of your contract.

If you ‘own’ the records, you are responsible for managing the records, including after the end of the contract. It is important to plan this in advance to address any potential challenges and risks. If you are continuing your independent practice, you should retain the records in your files for the required duration as appropriate. If you are not continuing your independent practice, you could consider retaining the records for the duration if the client does not require any further treatment. You could consider transferring the file to another healthcare professional or returning the records to the clients directly if continued intervention is necessary. Further information regarding storage of records and record management upon closure or transfer of practice may be found on pages 19-20 of ACSLPA’s Clinical Documentation and Record Keeping Guideline.

As is the case for many professional concerns, clear and proactive communication is key for mitigating errors and ensuring compliance with standards and legislation.

Regulated members are reminded that they may contact the College if they have questions or need further clarification. Please do not hesitate to reach out at any time using the Contact Us form.

If there is a conflict or discrepancy with the information or advice set out on this webpage and the information contained in a more official ACSLPA document, then the information contained in the more official ACSLPA document applies and not the information or advice set out here. For the purposes of this disclaimer, ACSLPA’s more official documents include the governing legislation (including the Health Professions Act and the Speech-Language Pathologist and Audiologist Profession Regulation) as well as ACSLPA’s Bylaws, policies, Standards of Practice, Code of Ethics, manuals and/or any other official document approved by Council, a statutory committee or a college official. Persons interacting with ACSLPA are responsible for reviewing and familiarizing themselves with the relevant information contained in ACSLPA’s official documents.