Under the HIPAA privacy regulation, health care representatives can not speak openly to your family and friends regarding your health information. There is a provision under this regulation that would allow you to have a family member or person involved in your medical care. This person is called a personal representative or an authorized person. Depending on your health plan, you can designate this person verbally to health care representatives and you can designate a spouse, adult child, friend, or any person of your choice to be your personal representative or you can complete appropriate forms supplied by your BCBS Plan.
The other way a family member or friend may speak for you is by a written legal document. You may have a health care proxy, health care directive or a legal power of attorney that states who, what and when you want medical care. When deciding which of the three legal documents you wish to have drawn up, you should be knowledgeable of what document would be needed and what included provisions are controlled by your local state's law. In many instances, a power of attorney focuses on a person's financial needs.
Re-evaluate and Re-certification
You need to review and discuss the provisions of any written document periodically with your friends and family for your safety. This document should be considered a living document, one that changes with the circumstances in your life, such as the death of a spouse, and in changes in your own state's law. It is in your best interest to review this document yearly so that it remains current. You should sit down with the designated person to discuss various treatment options for various medical conditions, like terminal illness, a permanent coma or the removal of life support. This person should be aware of your wishes and follow them if you become ill and can not make decisions for yourself. Once all these decisions are made, it is important to update any authorized persons or personal representative forms you maintain with your BCBS Plan. You can contact them for more details or to modify your authorizations on file.
If you do not want to designate a personal representative and are in a facility like a nursing home you can also have written medical instructions you want health care providers to have so that they know what you do and do not want for care at the end of your life. You may also want include the name of the person who has permission to speak for you when you cannot speak for yourself. This document should also be reviewed yearly to ensure that it currently reflects you life and wishes.