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Elder CareTips:
Mastering The Eldercare Maze™
August 1,
2005
When Your Medical
Power of Attorney
May Not Be Enough
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You've done everything "they" say you should
to get your documents in order. You have copies of the
Powers of Attorney your elder signed. You want to get some
information from his doctor, and you still hit a stone wall.
What's up?
Find your Medical POA and read through it (you do know where
it is, right?). If it says something like, "This medical
power of attorney takes effect if I become unable to make my
own health care decisions...," then it gives you no
authority or legal access to medical information while the
person you represent is able to make decisions.
As long as your elder is able he is entitled to keep medical
information
private, even from the person who may one day be making
decisions for him.
If this is the position you find yourself in, what you need
is an "Authorization to Release Information."
Whenever you go to the doctor you are asked to sign a form
authorizing the release of your medical information to
insurance companies, etc. This is the same kind of form your
elder can sign to authorize release of information to you or
anyone else she designates.
If your elder is agreeable to you having access to her
medical information she should ask to put your name and
contact information on a release form that will be included
in her medical chart. She will have to do this at each
individual doctor's office.
Some medical offices are reluctant, or will downright
refuse, to send a release form in the mail to be completed
and returned. They want to be sure that no undue influence
is being put on their patient to sign. So they will insist
that the form be filled out and signed in their office. If
your elder tends to forget to ask about filling out a
release form and you can't go with him, you can call the
office and ask them to put a form in the chart so the doctor
or nurse can offer it at the next office visit. Of course,
they may or may not remember to do this.
Doctors don't have time to answer the same questions from
several people. If there are multiple family members who
will want information from the doctor the patient should
designate one to be spokesperson for the group. This
person's name should be the one on the release form, and
should ideally be the one who holds Medical Power of
Attorney. The family spokesperson can then pass the
information on to anyone else the elder wants informed.
Note that I said, "... to anyone else the elder wants
informed." Just
because you have access to his confidential medical
information doesn't mean you can pass it along to whomever
you choose without your elder's consent. If your elder has
given you this kind of extremely personal privilege, please
don't abuse it by gossiping or revealing more than you
should to people he wouldn't want to have the information.
When in doubt, ask first.
| Security is mostly a
superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the
children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding
danger is no safer in the long run than outright
exposure. Life is a daring adventure or nothing at
all.
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In Case Of Emergency Apply "Ice"
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I'm told that someone in London came up
with this idea and that it's spreading around the world.
It's a terrific idea - wish I'd thought of it.
Paramedics are looking at a victim's cell phone for clues to
that person's
identity and a contact person. You can make their job much
easier with a simple entry in your phone contact list: ICE.
ICE stands for In Case of Emergency. If you add an entry in
the contacts list in your cell phone under ICE, with the
phone number of the person the emergency services should
call on your behalf, you can save them a lot of time. I'm
told that paramedics know what ICE means and they look for
it.
This could one day be important for you. It could be doubly
important if
you're a caregiver and someone at home is depending on you.
We can't know if our local emergency response teams are up
to date on this one yet, but there's nothing to lose and
much to gain in an emergency. I've put it in my phone, and I
suggest you do the same.
| Accept good advice
gracefully--as long as it doesn't interfere with what
you intended to do in the first place.
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From a Reader:
Here is a tip which I like for using soap while in the
shower. Take an old
nylon knee hi stocking and put the soap in it and knot. No
more slippery
soap when washing. Soap comes right through the nylon and
makes a good gentle scrubber.
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