You can have a healthcare power of attorney, a living will, a HIPAA authorization, and paperwork from your doctor’s office, and each one serves a different purpose.
A healthcare power of attorney can give someone authority to make healthcare decisions for you when necessary. A living will records your wishes about certain medical care. A HIPAA authorization can allow someone to receive specified health information.
HIPAA is the federal law behind the privacy rules that govern how certain health information can be used and shared.
So where do HIPAA and advance directives actually connect? The answer depends on whether someone is simply receiving information, helping with your care, or legally authorized to make healthcare decisions for you.
What Does HIPAA Do?
HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Its Privacy Rule protects certain health information and limits how covered healthcare providers, health plans, and other covered organizations can use and disclose it.
HIPAA does not mean a doctor can’t ever discuss your health with anyone else. The rules allow information to be shared in certain circumstances, including with people involved in your care and with someone who has legal authority to make healthcare decisions for you.
Where Do Advance Directives Fit In?
“Advance directive” is a broad term for documents used to plan for future healthcare decisions.
A living will is one type of advance directive. It communicates your wishes about certain types of medical care.
A healthcare power of attorney, healthcare proxy, or similarly named document is another type. It identifies the person who can make healthcare decisions for you when that person’s authority applies. Terminology and legal requirements vary by state, and some states combine these functions in one form.
HIPAA does not give your healthcare agent decision-making authority. Your healthcare power of attorney is the document that names the person who can make those decisions for you when needed.
What Happens When Your Healthcare Agent Needs Information?
When your healthcare agent is authorized to make healthcare decisions for you, HIPAA generally treats that person as your personal representative for matters within that authority.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services explains that someone acting under a healthcare power of attorney has the right to access medical records related to that representation, subject to the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
That means an authorized healthcare agent generally does not need a separate HIPAA authorization simply to obtain the information needed to make healthcare decisions on your behalf.
The healthcare power of attorney gives the agent authority to act. HIPAA recognizes that role and gives the agent access rights connected to it.
What If Someone Is Helping but Is Not Your Healthcare Agent?
A family member or friend can sometimes receive information even when that person is not your healthcare agent.
If you are present and able to make your own healthcare decisions, HHS says a provider can share information relevant to another person’s involvement in your care when you agree, do not object, or the provider can reasonably infer that you do not object.
You might invite your daughter into an appointment because you want her to hear the doctor’s instructions. A spouse might sit with you while a physician explains a medication change.
If you are not present or cannot give permission at the time, a provider can also share relevant information with someone involved in your care when the provider determines, using professional judgment, that doing so is in your best interest.
This does not make that person your healthcare decision-maker. It simply allows certain information to be shared because of the person’s involvement in your care.
What HIPAA Paperwork Might You See?
There is not one universal document that everyone simply calls “the HIPAA form.”
At a doctor’s office or hospital, you are often asked to acknowledge that you received the provider’s Notice of Privacy Practices. That notice explains how the provider uses and shares health information and describes your privacy rights.
Signing that acknowledgment does not authorize another person to receive your medical information. HHS explains that the signature generally confirms only that you received the notice.
A healthcare provider may also have a separate authorization or release form that you complete when you want information disclosed to someone else.
A HIPAA authorization can also be prepared as part of an estate plan. HHS confirms that a valid authorization can be prepared by a third party as long as it meets the Privacy Rule’s requirements.
If you remember signing “HIPAA paperwork,” it helps to know whether you signed a privacy notice acknowledgment or an authorization allowing someone else to receive your health information.
Review the Documents Together
Once these roles are clear, reviewing your healthcare planning is much easier.
Look at your healthcare power of attorney and confirm that the person you named is still the person you want making healthcare decisions for you if necessary.
Review your living will and make sure it still reflects your treatment wishes.
If your estate plan includes a HIPAA authorization, check who you authorized to receive information and what the authorization covers. Keeping it with your other healthcare planning documents can make those related documents easier to review and locate.
You can also ask a new physician, hospital, or health system what forms it uses if you want someone else to receive records or communicate with the medical team.
Where HIPAA and Advance Directives Actually Connect
HIPAA and advance directives are separate. Still, they can address different parts of the same healthcare planning needs.
A healthcare power of attorney can name the person who will make healthcare decisions for you when needed. A living will records your treatment wishes. A HIPAA authorization can allow trusted people to receive specified health information.
That access can be useful before anyone needs to make decisions for you. It can also help when someone assists with medical information but does not have decision-making authority.
One document does not make the other work. Instead, they address different needs. Healthcare planning can involve both access to information and authority to make decisions.
Your documents should reflect who you want in each role. Review your healthcare power of attorney, living will, and any HIPAA authorization together. Make sure each one still does the job you intended.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Does having a health care power of attorney (POA) allow access to the patient’s medical and mental health records under HIPAA?” Read the full article here.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Does HIPAA allow a health care provider to communicate with a patient’s family, friends, or other persons who are involved in the patient’s care?” Read the full article here.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Notice of Privacy Practices,” Read the full article here.