To make sure that your personal health care advocates can have access to your Protected Health Information (“PHI”) and your treating health care personnel, it’s particularly important that you sign HIPAA authorization forms and put them into the chart at the hospital, clinic, rehab center, nursing home or doctor’s office. Our practice is to provide these forms when our clients sign their Wills, Powers of Attorney or Health Care Directives. Here’s a form you can use. HIPAA. This form tells them just WHO they CAN share information with. If your father is in the hospital and he has signed a HIPAA form with your name listed, you will be able to call up the doctor or nurse and get your questions answered. Without this form, you may be chasing after administrators to get the forms needed. Senior citizens who are planning for their health care services should take care to identify who will have access to their information and to sign and deliver all necessary forms.
HIPAA does not prevent you or your authorized representative from looking at your chart.
HIPAA does not prevent the doctor from sharing information “that is directly relevant to” the individuals assisting with the patient’s care who have been identified by the patient, or if the provider reasonably believes that the patient would not object. So generally, a spouse should be able to converse with the treatment team at the hospital. Similarly, HIPAA does not prevent a patient from bringing someone into the examination with room with them.
Navigating the complexities of access to health care information can be a challenge nowadays. The HHS website provides useful guidance for you.
Call us for legal advice concerning discharge planning, elder care health planning and related issues … 732-382-6070