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If I understand HIPPA correctly, my adult son could be admitted to a
hospital for some emergency and I would be unable to call the hospital
and find out his medical status. Do I need my children (all adult and
living out of state) to fill out a durable medical power of attorney
that I would keep in my possession so that I could get this kind of
medical information? If so, is this a relatively simple document that
exists on the web, if so could you provide a link to the form?..TIA,
Ron
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ron wrote:
[you want a durable POA form (medical)]
Teoma is your friend. It was mine and after 3/100's of a second, here is
your form:
http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/aha/umlegal02.htm
-paul
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"ron" <oitbso@yahoo.com> wrote in misc.legal.moderated:
If I understand HIPPA correctly, my adult son could be admitted to a
hospital for some emergency and I would be unable to call the hospital
and find out his medical status.
That's correct, and if you think about it for a minute it's right
and proper. Whatever relationship you and your son may have, it's
true that many parents are estranged from their sons, and if the son
were able to make decisions he would not want them to have any more
access than strangers.
Do I need my children (all adult and
living out of state) to fill out a durable medical power of attorney
that I would keep in my possession so that I could get this kind of
medical information?
The obvious question is how that would help you over the
_telephone_. Even if you faxed the hospital a copy, how would the
person on the phone at patient information verify that the caller
was you and not someone pretending to be you?
Why not talk to a hospital administrator and ask for a copy of a
form they would find acceptable; also ask what needs to be done in
advance to let you get information over the phone. Your son's
written consent will be required, I hope.
--
If you e-mail me from a fake address, your fingers will drop off.
I am not a lawyer; this is not legal advice. When you read anything
legal on the net, always verify it on your own, in light of your
particular circumstances. You may also need to consult a lawyer.
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
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If I understand HIPPA correctly, my adult son could be admitted to a
hospital for some emergency and I would be unable to call the hospital
and find out his medical status. Do I need my children (all adult and
living out of state) to fill out a durable medical power of attorney...
My father was admitted to the hospital last week, here in Texas. The
hospital provided him with a form at admittance in which he had to initial
one of two choices on how much information the hospital was permitted to
release.
I had his Advance Directive and Medical Power of Attorney with us when we
took him to the hospital (a doctor visit lead to his admittance, so I just
asked the nurse-receptionist to photocopy the copies we'd given the doctor).
Neither document was executed, as he wasn't rendered incompetent (though he
suffers mild dementia), but the nurses and doctors were comfortable speaking
with me, on an implied, but never explicit, consent of my father (i.e. I was
present when the doctor arrived to discuss things and my father was
comfortable having me remain), though I understand HIPPA technically
requires explicit consent (and have had to get it to talk to other doctors
in the past).
I'm not sure what good a medical POA in the hands of a parent in another
state would do -- I suppose it could be faxed to them, if that was
acceptable. It may have no legal weight, but I printed up and laminated a
card I carry in my wallet stating whom to inform in the event of an
accident -- my parents and the designated agent on my own Advance Directive
and Medical POA -- and granting consent for medical personnel to talk to
them about my condition, as the legal documents may not be readily at hand
in an emergency.
Not a lawyer, just relating my experience.
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If I understand HIPPA correctly, my adult son could be admitted to a
hospital for some emergency and I would be unable to call the hospital
and find out his medical status. Do I need my children (all adult and
living out of state) to fill out a durable medical power of attorney
that I would keep in my possession so that I could get this kind of
medical information?
I don't think you need to go as far as a power of attorney just to
find out his medical condition. Check with a hospital. I think there
must be some kind of permission to release medical information that
they could carry.
I don't know if HIPPA allows this, but what is needed is a card that
could be carried in a billfold giving permission to the hospital to
release certain amounts of information (such as general status
(critical, satisfactory, etc.)) to certain individuals or
organizations. If I were admitted I would want my spouse, siblings,
siblings-in-law, and church to know my status and, if I could take
calls, room phone. Of course, some people may not want such
information released to certain relatives or in-laws.
When I took my mother to the hospital emergency room there was a
period while she was in x-ray, so my wife and I had time to go to
admissions and do the paper work knowing that we had time before we
could be with her again. (hence, less pressure to rush things). One of
the forms was permission to release information. It included name of
church and clergy, list of relatives who might call, etc. (I had POA).
The form also included news media questions, not that it applied in
our case.
If things were more rushed--if we felt that we should be with her
rather than spending time in admissions--that kind of paper work might
have fallen through the cracks. If I did not have a medical POA I
could have had a problem.
Question for someone more familiar with HIPPA: does it allow a
general form in wallet card size to be used so the permission would
not have to be collected at a time the patient is perhaps in pain or
incoherent and others with the patient are too upset to worry about
paperwork?
Everyone should have a medical power of attorney for other reasons,
but also most people would want to allow others (friends, church,
etc.) to have access to information, but not to make decisions.
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