Choose the access you intend to give
Start by identifying who should be able to receive information and for what purpose. You may want a person to receive information without giving them authority to direct treatment. Think about whether access should cover records broadly or be limited to particular information, providers, or circumstances, and whether it should continue indefinitely or end at a chosen point.
A useful preparation tool is a recipient-and-scope list. For each person, note the relationship, the information you want them to access, the reason for access, and any intended end point. This gives you a concrete basis for discussing the authorization’s wording and limits.
Separate information access from healthcare authority
An authorization to share information does not, on its own, appoint someone to make healthcare decisions. A person’s authority under state law may make that person a HIPAA personal representative; a separate authorization is not invariably required for an agent who already has applicable healthcare authority. The documents serve different purposes, so consider how the authorization fits with your healthcare power of attorney and advance directive rather than treating them as interchangeable.
Tennessee’s Advance Directive for Health Care form addresses an agent or alternate and healthcare preferences, and includes instructions about signing and sharing copies. A HIPAA authorization focuses on information access. Review each document for the role it actually assigns and the scope it describes.
Prepare a practical review checklist
Before discussing a draft, gather the names and contact details of intended recipients, identify the kinds of information each should be able to receive, and note any limits or duration you want considered. Also list the healthcare providers or settings relevant to your plan, if known, and bring any current authorization, healthcare power of attorney, or advance directive so the documents can be considered together.
For each proposed recipient, ask: Should this person receive information only, or also have a decision-making role under a separate document? Is access intended to be broad or limited? Should it continue if your circumstances change, and how should the authorization fit with your other healthcare documents?
Planning from Blaine
Dale Law Group, PLLC offers HIPAA authorization planning as part of its Tennessee estate-planning services. The firm’s office is in Murfreesboro; Blaine is in Grainger County. You can discuss your intended recipients and document coordination with the firm without assuming that an authorization itself grants healthcare decision-making authority.
For questions about a particular provider’s process for receiving or recognizing an authorization, contact that provider directly. For questions about how a document should coordinate with your healthcare power of attorney or advance directive, raise them during your planning discussion.
Questions to bring to the discussion
Does a HIPAA authorization let someone make medical decisions for me?
Not by itself. It concerns access to health information. Healthcare decision-making authority is a separate question, and state-law authority may make someone a HIPAA personal representative.
Should I name the same person in my authorization and healthcare documents?
That depends on whom you want to receive information and whom you want to have a decision-making role. Compare the intended roles and limits in your authorization, healthcare power of attorney, and advance directive.
Discuss your next step with Dale Law Group
Begin with a brief, non-confidential overview. The firm will discuss your needs and appointment arrangements.
General information, not advice for a particular situation. Sending an inquiry does not create an attorney-client relationship.
