How long must massage therapists keep client records?

It depends on the state. Among the states with a verified rule, the required minimum runs from 1 year (Florida) to 7 years (Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and New Jersey), with 3 to 6 years being the most common. Most states count the period from your last session with the client, while a few count from the end of the therapeutic relationship or the date the record was made, and several require you to keep a minor client’s records longer, often until a set number of years after the client turns 18. Always confirm the current period with your own state board, because rules change and this list is guidance, not legal advice.

In most verified states the clock starts at your last session with the client (the last date of service or treatment). Alabama and North Carolina instead run their period from the end of the therapeutic relationship, and Maryland and New Jersey run it from when the record was made or the most recent entry. Because the last session date is the one anchor a notes app can always rely on, apps typically count from there, which is the same as or slightly more conservative than the rule.

Often, yes. Several states extend retention for clients treated as minors. Washington requires at least 3 years after the client turns 18, the District of Columbia 3 years after majority, Maryland until majority plus 7 years, Massachusetts until age 18 or 7 years (whichever is longer), and Arizona the later of 3 years after the 18th birthday or 6 years after the last service. Where both an adult and a minor rule could apply, keep the records for the longer period.

This page lists only the states whose massage record-retention rule we have verified against the official source. If your state is not shown, it does not mean there is no rule; it may mean the rule states a duration without a clear start date, or that it is set by a general health-records or professional-conduct law rather than a massage-specific one. A safe default many practices use is to keep records for at least 7 years. Check your state massage board or health regulator for the exact requirement, and set a conservative period until you confirm it.

Even where records are not strictly required, contemporaneous SOAP notes are your best professional protection if a treatment, a client complaint or an insurance question ever arises. Notes made at the time of treatment, kept unaltered, carry far more weight than anything reconstructed later. Keeping records credibly matters as much as keeping them: finalized notes should be locked, and corrections should be dated addenda that preserve the original, not silent rewrites.