Advance health care directives provide instructions about medical priorities and can authorize a trustworthy person to make medical decisions on behalf of someone who is too ill or injured to advocate for themselves. Living wills, physician orders and powers of attorney are important documents to draft while people are still healthy. They can then count on receiving medical care in accordance with their wishes in an emergency or at the end of their lives.
People sometimes focus so much on those legal instruments about their personal care preferences that they overlook another important document. Anyone tasked with making medical decisions may need access to medical records. The right paperwork is critical to ensure they can access medical information during an emergency.
Medical privacy laws are incredibly strict
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act drastically changed medical record-keeping in the United States. Long gone are the days when spouses could simply ask to see one another’s charts or parents could check in on the medical status of their children who are old enough to attend college.
Under HIPAA’s privacy rules, even immediate family members do not have automatic access to medical records in an emergency. Those naming someone to act as their agent or healthcare proxy in an emergency also need to sign a HIPAA release or waiver document that allows a specific individual to access their medical records and communicate with health care providers about their treatment.
Expanding an estate plan to include all necessary advance health care directives can protect people if they experience medical emergencies. HIPAA paperwork can be as important as powers of attorney when it comes to ensuring that a trusted individual can manage medical matters.
