Bring It with You

Do you have a Health Care Proxy, HIPAA Statement, and advanced directive (in my office that would be the workbook called Your Way)? If you are in a hospital or rehab and are being transferred to another medical institution, bring copies with you. Do not assume these will be transferred to the new institution!!

We are living in the beginning of the age of electronic medical records, so you would think it would be a no-brainer that your Health Care Proxy, HIPAA Statement, and advanced directive would go with you to your new medical institution. But even the best computer systems are run by humans, and we all know that medical institutions are understaffed.

Be on the safe side and bring these documents with you. When you get to the new institution, make sure these are placed in your chart. And then tell every nurse and doctor who comes to see you that they can find these documents in your chart.