Talking to a parent's doctor: what HIPAA allows
Do I need to be on my parent's HIPAA form?
Not always. None of the ways HHS lists for a provider to share with family requires a signed form; your parent can simply say it's OK.
HHS says a provider or health plan “can share your information with family or friends if:”
- “They are involved in your health care or payment for your health care,”
- “You tell the provider or plan that it can do so,”
- “You do not object to sharing of the information, or”
- “If, using its professional judgment, a provider or plan believes that you do not object.”
None of those requires a signed form. One of them is simply your parent telling the provider that it can share with you. If the office gives your parent a form to name people it can talk to, filling it in is one way of telling it.
When a form isn’t enough
Talking with the doctor is different from having the right to your parent’s records. HHS says, “Only you or your personal representative has the right to access your records”: can I get a copy of my parent’s records?
More questions caregivers ask
- Can I talk to my parent's doctor?
- Does a health care power of attorney let me see my parent's records?
- Can I get a copy of my parent's medical records?
- All the questions
From Centis, a free care notebook you talk to. This is general information from HHS’s own pages, not legal advice; state law can make a difference.
Further reading
- Family Members and Friends (opens in a new tab), from the US Department of Health and Human Services: when doctors can share information with family under HIPAA
- Your Medical Records (opens in a new tab), from the US Department of Health and Human Services