Parents of teens/young adults- consider this

17 years ago

I've been meaning to share this, and the last couple of posts to Cup's thread jogged my memory.

This is a release I drew up when our son went off to school. The previous year, we learned the hard way what happens when an 18 YO child becomes suddenly ill, is unconscious and unable to give consent to share information with parents. Although my husband carried him into the ER and gave all the 'information' for admission, unless he was physically present with our son, his health status could "not" be communicated to us. Thank God we had compassionate doctors and nurses who thought the restrictions were restrictive and unfair and ignored them totally. :)

I am an attorney- in all likelihood I am not licensed to practice in your state- and although I drew this up as a legal document, I am not suggesting you use it as such, nor assuring you that it will be honored in your state. (just a little CYA- you know!)

I will remind you that if you abuse your adult child's right to medical privacy and use this to pry, snoop or otherwise poke your nose into business you have no business knowing,

a) you will wish you didn't know - and

b) your child should and probably will revoke consent.

We have copies on file with the pediatrician, which allows me to request immunization records/refills, etc. DH and I also have amended forms for each other, as his doctor's office is particularly snotty about 'speaking only with the patient'. DH does not have the time or the inclination to call to request records, schedule his own tests, appointments, etc., and if I don't do it for him, it doesn't get done...

Don't forget your 18YO+ child does NOT need your permission for medical treatment. Hope this gives some of you peace of mind!

____________________________________________________________

Date______________

I, ________________, give the following individuals permission to access any medical, dental, hospital or pharmaceutical records on my behalf , at any time, for any reason and under any and all circumstances until and unless this permission is expressly revoked in writing.

Listed: ______________________ (father), ________________________(mother)

I also give permission and expressly direct any doctor, nurse, dentist or pharmacist, or any other medical professional bound by current or future HIPAA directives, to share information with the abovementioned listed individual(s), whether by phone, written correspondence or in person, to release prescriptions, X-rays, test results or medical records to these individuals upon their request under any and all circumstances. This permission is valid until and unless expressly revoked in writing.

A copy of this permission is valid as original.

_________________________/______

signature date

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Comments (7)

kitchencrazychris
17 years ago
Hey Pecan,
Thanks for jogging my memory on this type of situation !!
I'm definitely going to make a copy of this . .

We went through this last year after DS's surgery when we were trying to get our HMO to kick in surgery and medical expenses since we'd gone outside the system . .since they couldn't do the surgery, wouldn't do the surgery,etc. . . . . Remember those days????? Anyway, surgery was done 1 week before 18th birthday . . . I'd been the one to schedule it, sign for it, etc. etc. etc. etc. . . . . but the minute the 18th birthday rolled around . . . I suddenly became "not privy" to any of that info without DS's written consent !!!!!!!!
Un-friggin'-believable !!!!!
cupofkindness
17 years ago
Ditto Pecan. I remember when you discussed this the first time around. I told all my friends with college aged children to get a release for medical care. Thanks for the reminder - it looks like I'll need one soon.
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sjerin
17 years ago
Thanks so much for posting this, pecanpie. Is it alright to copy it out for my daughter to sign?
Erin
pecanpie
Original Author
17 years ago
Of course it's alright, Erin. Be sure to keep copies where you can get your hands on them.

My parents have signed these to authorize release of medical information to each other. They don't think they're to the point of putting any/all of us kids on the release (shaking head in disbelief). They even balked at the reciprocal releases until we pointed out that 55 years of marrige meant nothing under the HIPAA provisions.
sjerin
17 years ago
Thanks so much, again! You can bet I'll be handing these out to my friends with college-age kids and my sister told me she has passed it on to hers. We all appreciate your effort!
Erin
mary_228
17 years ago
Thanks for the advice on this!

I have printed a copy for my college daughter and wondered what I am supposed to do with the signed (assuming she will sign it!) form? Do I just keep it and plan to fax it to whatever hospital she may be brought to? Gee, I hope someone calls me :(

Can you imagine their roommates trying to handle an emergency? Hopefully it wouldn't be like my freshman roommate who returned to school after a w/e home and stayed in bed for 3 days, recovering, it turned out, from mixture of heroin and cocaine. Hey, I tried to wake her up to go to class!

College can be a scary place!
pecanpie
Original Author
17 years ago
Good grief! It's a wonder any of us in 'that' generation made it to adulthood with any brain cells and/or chromosomes intact.

Mary, I have copies at home, at DH's office (his secretary could fax it if we were out of town) and one in the safe deposit box just in case. (I gave DS one to fold up to keep in his wallet and he forgot it- left it on the kitchen table...) Yes, that's exactly what you do- keep them and pray you never need them.

A couple of times when I've made appointments for DS, I've simply told the reception desk that they have a signed release from him in his file- I honestly don't even think they check. I think a hospital might be a little stricter.

Parents of teens/young adults- consider this

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kitchencrazychris

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Parents of teens/young adults- consider this

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kitchencrazychris

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