Imagine for a second that your child is away at college. They are getting good grades and making tons of friends, and you feel like the best parent ever because they even got themselves a job — without your help or prodding. Everything is going great until the unthinkable happens: they get into an accident and are taken to the hospital unconscious. This is a horrible situation no parent wants to face, which is why it is so critical that they have a health emergency card on them.

Common sense says most college-age kids want their parents’ help in a medical emergency. And the parents would not hesitate to hop in their car and drive all night to be with their baby. But all too often, our clients share horror stories of college-age kids getting injured and being unconscious, and the hospital staff does not know how to contact the parents.

Even worse, they reach the family but, by law, cannot discuss the patient’s medical information due to privacy laws.

How Can a Health Emergency Card Help?

Under under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), also known as privacy laws, medical personnel can go to jail or pay huge fines if they release a patient’s information without permission. Sure, they are still caring for your child and trying desperately to save their life. But they are also flying blind because they do not know many key details about the child’s health history and current situation. 

A health emergency card alone can include everything from the child’s name, allergies, medical conditions, and contact information to their parents’ names and phone numbers, details regarding HIPAA authorizations, and medical power of attorney. This way, doctors can act quickly and do not have to play guessing games with anything. 

A health emergency card coupled with a medical Power of Attorney and HIPAA authorization form ensures the doctors caring for your son or daughter can:

1. Contact family members 
2. Gain access to critical health information they may not readily know
3. Discuss medical information with family
4. Make informed decisions about next steps

Many families do not have health emergency cards, HIPAA authorizations, and medical POAs for their college-age kids or even themselves. This only creates more obstacles when you are simply trying to find out what happened and what is the appropriate next step for life-saving care.

Call Leigh Hilton PLLC today!!

At Leigh Hilton PLLC, our goal is to protect and preserve your most valuable assets while educating you and your family every step of the way. We want you to feel empowered so that you can confidently embrace your estate planning strategy. Leigh Hilton PLLC wants to be your first call every time for any estate planning need. 

We look forward to serving you.