Plan Who Can Receive Your Health Information

Start with the information-sharing decision

Identify the people you want involved in receiving health information and the practical reason each person may need it. You might want one person to coordinate updates while another receives information only in a particular circumstance. The goal is to make the intended recipients and purpose clear rather than assuming that every trusted person needs the same access.

Then consider the scope and duration of the authorization. Think through what information you intend to share and whether the arrangement should be limited to a particular purpose or period. These are planning choices to address in the document; they do not determine who has authority to make care decisions.

Separate access from healthcare authority

An authorization for information sharing is different from a healthcare power of attorney or other healthcare decision-making authority. HHS explains that state-law healthcare authority can make someone a HIPAA personal representative. An information-sharing authorization alone does not appoint a healthcare decision-maker.

The distinction also means that you should not assume a healthcare agent always needs a separate HIPAA authorization. How a person’s authority relates to health information access depends on the applicable circumstances and authority. Review the documents as a coordinated plan, while keeping their purposes distinct.

Prepare a recipient-and-scope worksheet

A useful starting worksheet is a short worksheet rather than a list of names alone. For each proposed recipient, note the reason for access, the information you intend to make available, and the period or circumstance you have in mind. Add any limits or distinctions between recipients that you want to discuss.

Bring the worksheet alongside any existing healthcare power of attorney or advance healthcare directive. The comparison can help identify whether your plan is about sharing information, making healthcare decisions, or both—and whether the documents express those intentions consistently.

• Recipient names and relationship to you
• Purpose of sharing and information scope
• Intended duration or circumstances
• Existing healthcare documents and any questions about how they fit together

Questions to resolve before preparing the document

Consider whether each recipient should have the same scope of access, whether the intended sharing is broad or tied to a particular need, and how long you want the arrangement to apply. If someone is also expected to make healthcare decisions, identify that role separately rather than relying on an information-sharing document to create it.

Dale Law Group, PLLC serves Tennessee. For Nashville and Davidson County planning, the central task is to make the intended information-sharing choices clear and distinguish them from healthcare authority. The firm’s office is in Murfreesboro, not Nashville.