Moving a medical office in Texas comes down to three things: protecting patient records in transit, getting regulated equipment re-registered and recalibrated at the new address, and reopening on a date your patients can count on. The furniture is the easy part. Everything that touches patient privacy, imaging, or clinical workflow needs a plan of its own, and that plan should be written before the first box is packed.
At Move Solutions, we relocate healthcare and medical offices across Dallas–Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Houston. Our crews move confidential records in locked containers under chain-of-custody procedures. Every crew member is a W-2 employee who has been background-checked and drug-screened. Here is how we approach a clinic move, and what practice managers in Texas should settle early.
Start With the Reopening Date, Not the Moving Date
A medical office move is scheduled backward from the day you see patients again. That date drives everything: when the old suite closes, when equipment vendors are booked, when phones and the practice-management system come back online, and when staff need to be trained on the new layout.
For most practices the right answer is a short closure, often a long weekend, with clinical rooms set up first and administrative areas second. In Texas, that window also has to account for the building. Many medical office buildings in Dallas, Plano, Austin and San Antonio restrict large moves to evenings and weekends and require freight elevator reservations days in advance.
A realistic reopening date is one that already includes vendor appointments, IT cutover and a walkthrough with your clinical lead. If any of those three is still unconfirmed, the date is a hope, not a schedule.
Patient Records: Chain of Custody From Old Suite to New
Paper charts, imaging films and file rooms are the part of a medical move with the least room for error. Texas Medical Board rules require physicians to keep adult patient records for at least seven years from the last treatment, and records for minors until age 21 or seven years after last treatment, whichever is longer. That means many practices are moving years of protected health information, even after converting to electronic records.
Treat records as a controlled shipment. Agree in advance how files will be packed, sealed, logged and supervised from the moment they leave the old suite until they are unpacked, and who has access along the way. If your compliance officer requires a business associate agreement or specific handling steps, settle that in writing before move day. Move Solutions moves confidential records in locked containers under chain-of-custody procedures.
Before the move, decide what does not need to go. Records past their retention period can be destroyed securely instead of moved, which reduces both weight and risk. Records under a litigation hold must be kept regardless of age, so check with counsel before anything is shredded.
Imaging and Regulated Equipment Need Their Own Plan
Medical equipment movers are not all equipped for the same work, and the distinction matters. Exam tables, casework, waiting room furniture and most clinical carts can be moved by a trained commercial crew. Diagnostic imaging, lab analyzers and anything with calibration requirements usually involves the manufacturer or a certified service vendor as well.
The typical sequence for regulated equipment looks like this. The service vendor powers down, disconnects and prepares the unit. The moving crew handles protected transport between locations. The vendor reinstalls, recalibrates and tests at the new location before it is used on a patient.
In Texas, x-ray equipment is registered with the Department of State Health Services, and the registration includes where the machine is used. When equipment moves to a new address, the practice needs to update that registration. Check the current requirements and timing with DSHS’s radiation control program well before move day so a paperwork gap does not delay reopening.
Large imaging systems such as MRI and CT are specialist projects that can involve shielding, structural review and vendor-only handling. If your move includes one, bring the vendor into the planning meeting at the very beginning.
What We Move, and How We Protect It
For the rest of the clinic, protection and speed come from equipment and process. We own our fleet and tools rather than renting them for the job, including more than 40 air-ride trucks, 150,000 RFID-tracked reusable crates and thousands of four-wheel dollies. Air-ride suspension matters for sensitive equipment because it reduces the vibration that standard trucks pass through on Texas highways and city streets.
Every project runs through BrassTacks, our project management platform. It tracks inventory, room assignments and progress in real time, so the practice manager sees the same status our project lead sees. For a clinic, a good plan assigns every exam room its table, cart, supplies and equipment in advance, so clinical staff walk into rooms that are ready to use.
The building side needs coordinating too: the certificate of insurance your landlord requires, freight elevator bookings at both buildings, and floor and wall protection along the route. Move Solutions provides an ACORD 25 certificate of insurance before any project begins.
IT, Phones and the Practice-Management System
A clinic that has moved its furniture but cannot check in patients has not reopened. Plan the technology cutover as carefully as the physical move.
Confirm internet service at the new suite weeks ahead, since provider installs can take longer than expected. Schedule your EHR and practice-management vendor for the cutover window. Make sure phone numbers port on time and that the main line forwards correctly during the move itself. Test label printers, card readers and e-prescribing workstations in every room before the first patient arrives.
Our technical services team can disconnect, transport and reconnect workstations and peripherals as part of the move. Network configuration and EHR access remain with your IT provider.
Communicating With Patients
Patients need the new address, the closure dates and parking or entrance directions well before the move. Update the address on your website, your Google Business Profile and any insurance or referral directories at the same time, so patients and referring offices do not land at the old location. A clear sign at the old suite for the first few weeks also helps patients who did not get the message.
Moving a Medical Office in Dallas, Austin or San Antonio
Each Texas market adds its own wrinkle. In Dallas–Fort Worth, many practices sit in multi-tenant medical office buildings near hospital campuses, where loading docks and elevators are shared and tightly scheduled. In Austin, growth along the I-35 and MoPac corridors means new construction suites where finish work can run late, so a fallback date is worth agreeing on early. In San Antonio, practices that serve military families often need extra flexibility around patient scheduling.
Whatever the city, the practices that reopen on time are the ones that treated records, regulated equipment and IT as separate workstreams with named owners, not as afterthoughts on moving day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How long does it take to move a medical office?
A: A small or mid-size practice can usually be physically moved over a long weekend. The planning takes longer, typically several weeks, because equipment vendors, IT providers and both buildings need to be scheduled. The reopening date should be set only after those appointments are confirmed.
Q: Can a commercial mover handle our imaging equipment?
A: A trained commercial crew can transport most medical equipment safely, but imaging systems and calibrated analyzers usually also require the manufacturer or a certified service vendor. The vendor prepares, reinstalls and recalibrates the unit, while the mover handles protected transport and rigging between locations.
Q: Do we need to keep paper records when we move?
A: Texas Medical Board rules require physicians to keep adult records at least seven years after last treatment and minors’ records until age 21 or seven years, whichever is longer. Records past those periods can often be securely destroyed instead of moved, unless a litigation hold applies.
Q: Do we have to update our x-ray registration when we move?
A: Yes. Texas registers x-ray equipment with the Department of State Health Services, and the registration includes the location where the machine is used. Contact DSHS’s radiation control program before your move to confirm the current filing requirements and timing for a change of address.
Q: How do you protect patient information during the move?
A: Our crews move confidential records in locked containers under chain-of-custody procedures, and every crew member is a background-checked, drug-screened W-2 employee. Agree on how records will be packed, sealed, logged and supervised with your compliance officer before the move, and put any stricter requirements in writing.
Plan Your Clinic Move With Move Solutions
If your practice is relocating in Dallas–Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio or Houston, talk with our team before you sign the reopening date. We will walk through your records, equipment and building requirements, and build a schedule your staff and patients can rely on. Contact Move Solutions to request a pre-move survey.
