Service Medical
                     and Health Records
      
Most Official Military Personnel Files at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) prior to 1992
                     contain both personnel and active duty health records. Health records
                     cover outpatient, dental, and mental health treatment which a former member received while in the military service. 
                     Health records documents include induction and separation physical examinations, and routine medical care (doctor/dental visits,
                     lab tests, etc.) when the patient was not admitted to a hospital.  
       
In comparison, clinical (hospital inpatient) records are NOT filed with the health records but are
                     generally retired to NPRC (MPR) by the hospital or facility which created them. Other medical records which would not be included
                     are Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) records, or records for service after 1992.
      
The practice of filing health
                     records with the personnel record portion has been discontinued.  In 1992, the Army began retiring most of its former
                     members' health records to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).  The other services made this change in subsequent
                     years.