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Why The College Infirmary Won’t Tell You About
Your Child’s Health! Don’t Leave Your College Student Sick and Alone
A Germantown parent came out of a
meeting and was handed a message that her 20-year-old-son, away at
college, had called. He was ill, was going to the college Infirmary, and
asked his mother to call. He left the phone number of the college
Infirmary.
She immediately called, identified
herself and asked, “How’s my son?” The college Infirmary replied “Pursuant
to the HIPAA law, we are not allowed to confirm or deny that your son is
here.”
She responded that he had left a message
he was going to the Infirmary and that he had left the telephone number
for her to call. The Infirmary stated that even if he were there, they
were not allowed to discuss his condition.
The HIPAA law (Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act) has a section on medical privacy which
mandates that protected health information be kept confidential, absent a
waiver of these restrictions. The law provides for civil and criminal
penalties for medical personnel who wrongfully release such protected
health information.
When a child turns eighteen (18), the
law considers the child to be an adult. As an adult, each child is subject
to the “protection” of the HIPAA medical privacy provisions and medical
personnel have been taught not to disclose any information about them
absent a clear waiver. Even if you are the parent of the child, the law
prohibits health care providers from talking to you about your child’s
health.
Before your young adult goes off to
college, be sure to get them to sign a Health Care Power of Attorney which
has a HIPAA waiver. A copy of that signed document then needs to be filed
with the college Infirmary with instructions that not only can the
Infirmary tell the parents about the child’s health, but that they should
initiate the call.
The Health Care Power of Attorney can
open the information flow if your young adult child is taken to a hospital
or other medical facility. It also allows you to make medical decisions on
behalf of your young adult child when they cannot.
If you have questions about these
issues, or if you would like help in having a Health Care Power of
Attorney prepared for your young adult, please complete the attached
Information Form and contact us.
Click here to download
HCPOA Information form (PDF)
Click here to download
HCPOA Information form (Word doc)
Other true stories:
A woman’s 22-year-old son and a friend
were driving to North Carolina to the beach. Several hours after they
left, the friend called. They had been in a bad traffic accident outside
of Richmond, Virginia. An ambulance had taken her son to the local
hospital, but he did not know his condition.
The mother called the hospital,
identified herself, and asked about her son’s condition. Although the
hospital acknowledged that her son was there, they would not discuss his
condition other than to say he was in the intensive care unit.
The hospital suggested she drive to
Richmond if she wanted to learn how her son was.
* *
* * *
A father took his freshman son to the
college Infirmary during his registration at the college. He explained
that his son did have a medical issue (asthma) of which they should be
aware and that if his son came to the Infirmary he wanted to make sure
that the Infirmary would notify the parents.
The Infirmary personnel immediately
responded that pursuant to the HIPAA medical privacy law, the Infirmary is
not allowed to release such information.
The father and son then presented the
Infirmary with a copy of the Health Care Power of Attorney with a HIPAA
waiver. The Infirmary agreed that it would notify the parents if anything
happened.
* *
* * *
Their son’s college roommate called. He
had just returned to the dormitory and was told that their son had been
taken to the hospital but he did not know what was wrong. He promised to
try to find out and call back.
Being more than a 1,000 miles away, the
parents tried to find out by telephone what was happening. However,
neither hospital in that college town would confirm that their son was
there.
It was the next day before their son
called to say he had badly sprained his ankle and had spent the night in
the hospital.
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