CollePolicies on releasing medical info to parents?

Parents Forum
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<p>I had thought that a student could sign a release form allowing parents to get information on the student's health status if there is a problem. But when I called my D's school, I was told that this has to be done on an illness by illness basis -- there is no way for D to sign a blanket release that always allows her parents access to her health information. </p>

<p>I was surprised by this, because a friend told me that her D had signed just such a blanket release at a different college. My friend thinks that each college makes its own rules, but my D's college said it was a federal rule-- the case-by-case thing, I mean.</p>

<p>In case of some emergency, we definitely want to be told what is going on with our D. I am especially concerned because while home on a recent break, D did experience an emergency health situation. There was no problem with access to information, because she was not at college and was still 17. But she will be 18 later this month, which is why I wanted her to sign the release. </p>

<p>The college said that if she was in such bad shape that she couldn't verbally tell them to speak with us, she would be at a local hospital and then their rules would apply and the person I spoke with didn't know what those rules would be. </p>

<p>So -- what happens if your kid over 18 is in an accident and is rushed unconscious to a hospital? Do they refuse to give you any information? I am so confused about the whole issue now. Can someone advise?</p>

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<p>School health services are governed by the same HIPPA privacy guidelines as a physician’s office or hospital IF your child is over 18 years of age. Indeed, this is handled on an illness by illness basis in terms of releasing medical information to you as a parent.</p>

<p>The schools WILL allow a student to sign a blanket release for FERPA which will allow you to talk about billing issues, or the like. These privacy issues actually are handled differently at various schools. Some schools have the student sign that they will NOT let others have access to their private records (grades, bills, etc) and some schools have the student sign that folks CAN have access. AND most schools will allow access for some things and not others.</p>

3

<p>You will not like my answer. My son was knocked unconscious when he was a freshman and taken to the local hospital by ambulalnce (just to use your example). They did not call me and I got “info” from my son’s friends. We are over 1500 miles away so jumping in the car and heading there wasn’t going to happen. By the time we would have found flights and bought tickets he most likely would have been back in the dorm. The hospital was happy to talk to me 30 days later about the bill when they had miscoded the ID number from my son’s card and called me to find out why BC/BS was denying the claim. The good part of this is if the kiddo goes to the hospital by ambulance the hospital will take care of your child. The part that I realized I needed to discuss more in depth was how to find a docter, how the insurance card works, the difference between the insurance card and the perscription card, what to say (since the area does not have any in-plan advisors) and the need to call us if he needs help. It’s sort of a wake up call to their emerging adultdom.</p>

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<p>Thumper is correct - HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Privacy Act of 1996) is a federal law which governs the release and/or sharing of medical information (including that at school infirmaries/clinics/student health services), regardless of the age of a patient, including diagnosis, treatment, and current status. HIPAA has an exception for minors (who, by legal definition, are age 17 & younger), which allows medical information to be shared with a minor’s legal guardian. Unfortunately there is no “blanket waiver” one can sign for HIPAA release - consent must be given episodically - however there are several important steps you can do:</p>

<p>1) HIPAA allows for medical information to be shared to what’s called a “Personal Representative,” without specific consent, if a person is incapacitated and has declared that representative to have their health care power of attorney. Additionally, HIPAA allows for someone to ask for that information to be shared with their Personal Rep. (even if they’re not incapacitated) proactively.</p>

<p>2) Everyone, even 18 year olds! :D, should have a designated health care power of attorney. This might seem like overkill, but it really is essential in the event of a life-threatening emergency. If you’re not familiar, a health care power of attorney doesn’t have to be an attorney at all – it can be anyone. It simply means that you have declared this person has the legal authority to make medical/health care decisions on your behalf in the event you are no longer able to do so or are deemed incapacitated to do so. Many colleges I know interpret the “Emergency Contact Person” on a student’s forms to be their de facto designated “Personal Representative,” however it is a good idea to solidify these things legally as well.</p>

<p>[RANDOM MORBID TANGENT]
On a complete tangent - and hopefully wholly unrelated to the OP’s question (sorry OP for the randomness here) - when talking with your student(s) about these kind of things, I think it is also important to ask your student(s) to write a will with information also about end-of-life care.</p>

<p>I know it seems horrifically morbid, and that’s the way I felt when I was 19 and my parents asked me to do so (you can find $9 online forms to use and can file yourself, doesn’t have to be an expensive proposition), but it is also just smart planning for the future. A lot of us young people (:wink: I consider myself among them, although I am much older than your daughter, OP :)) forget that freak accidents and illnesses happen sometimes. Many parents don’t realize that they are legally liable, if they co-signed, for most of their child’s student loans even if s/he dies (federally subsidized and some state-specific subsidized loans are the exception). In that case, typically the loans only have to be paid out of the decedent’s estate, however if your (legal adult/18 & older) child dies without a will, his/her estate will go to probate, therefore protracting any resolution of the loan issue. Not to mention talking about end-of-life decisions is just good for families to do for other reasons, no matter what. [/Random Morbid Tangent]</p>

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<p>Wow. Never thought of any of this and it is a lot to think about. This is great information – about the “personal representative.” which if I am understanding correctly can be designated via a power of attorney document. I had been vaguely aware of this as an issue from reading stories about kids having serious troubles at college and parents being kept in the dark. I am going to look into the power of attorney. Matter of fact, I don’t believe my H and I have power of attorney forms, either, just wills/living wills. Thanks for the information.</p>

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<p>For those who care about such things: It’s actually HIPAA, for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. </p>

<p>This is a very confusing name because it doesn’t even mention privacy, yet privacy is an important part of what it’s about.</p>

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<p>If my husband were to be in an accident bad enough that he couldn’t communicate, wouldn’t I be called? I’m trying to figure out how this works. They don’t just keep him in intensive care indefinitely without notifying family, do they? Why would it be different for a child? What if that happened to my single sister? Do they call somebody?</p>

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<p>Chances are you would indeed be notified. I know when my daughter checked in to her dorm, she had to fill out a form that stated who should be contacted in case of emergency.</p>

<p>I don’t think the issue is one of notification…its of information. Once you are aware there is a problem, unless specific permission is given by your now 18-year-old child, doctors, nurses or any other person handling the case cannot provide details. You can’t call and ask about his/her condition and expect to get answers. You can’t even show up and expect to get answers, unless your child has you down as a named representative that can be given this information.</p>

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<p>All this uncertainty sounds like a good reason to make sure your kid and his roommate put emergency parent contact information in an easily accessible place (like taped to the wall) in their dorm room on day one. And then be sure the roommates know they are expected to call the other parents in case of emergency.</p>

<p>Later, after your freshman makes some good friends, make sure a couple of them have parent contact info as well.</p>

<p>When my sister was injured many years ago as a young woman, far from home, it was her friends that contacted our family. We were so grateful.</p>

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<p>Also remember that an ICE listing in the cell phone will help. Even if your child has your number listed, have them make a second listing with ICE before your name. Emergency personnel will go through a phone’s number list looking for a person’s “In Case of Emergency” contact for who to call.</p>