How to Talk to Your Loved One’s Medical Care Providers
#8 Tip: Know Their Medical Care Providers.
Getting to know your loved one’s medical care providers may lead to more focused medical care and improved health for them. You might find some peace of mind - but make sure to have the right paperwork in place.Health Care Power of Attorney
A Health Care Power of Attorney , also called a Medical Power of Attorney, is designed to be used in situations where the patient has lost the capacity to make their own medical decisions. The need may be temporary due to a condition like loss of consciousness or permanent due to an incapacity like advanced Alzheimer’s dementia. Get the advice of an attorney about Powers of Attorney.
Planning ahead for such situations is an important part of estate planning. Because a power of attorney must be signed by your loved one when sound of mind, having this critical document in place can save money and heart ache. Once a person is no longer able to make good decisions for themselves, getting power of attorney will mean spending time and money to apply for a court appointment.
For most situations, all you need is for your loved one complete a HIPAA release form with their medical provider to grant you access to their records. Be aware of how long the release lasts and keep it up to date.
Talking With Medical Care Providers
Get started by talking with your loved one to make sure they’re on board. Build trust by making sure they know you respect their perspective and want to make sure their health care is in line with their preferences.
Assemble a list of all the medical providers (doctors, specialists, dentists, etc.) including contact information. Then call or check online for HIPAA release forms. (Your local support team might be able to assist in getting signatures.) If you already have an appropriate power of attorney or release form, just make sure to get it filed at each office.
Set an appointment and assemble your questions. The more you know about your loved ones health conditions, medications and treatment plans, the more focused your questions can be. If you hope to be part of patient appointments, look into whether video chat or phone calls on speaker are allowed.
- Do they know how to contact you?
- Is telehealth available?
- Do they do wellness checks?
Suggestions for the meeting:
- Bring a complete list of medicine and supplements along with dosages to review.
- Verify health conditions reported by your loved one.
- Clarify anything you or your loved one don’t understand.
- Make sure your loved one is part of the conversation as an adult worth listening to.
- Identify your role as advocate and communication coordinator.
If you feel overwhelmed by all the steps necessary to keep in touch with medical providers, it may help to know that what you are attempting makes a difference. Research shows that teamwork between professionals, family and patients improves the outcome for both patient and provider. Everybody wins when the team stays in touch.
Next Steps:
Print out our Care Team Organizer worksheet for a convenient place to keep track of phone numbers, questions, and important information. Subscribe below to be the first to hear about new tools and resources. If you’re looking for legal documents appropriate to your state and don’t have a budget for attorneys, you can check out Investopedia’s list of online legal services.
Once you have a handle on the health care team, it’s time to take a look at how the bills are covered. Next week, we'll be discussing tips for what documents to look for and which types of insurance might help.