Welcome to the Light Keepers Podcast. I'm Clayton
Vandiver, your Light Keeper, with the show dedicated
to everyone who wants to get the most quality
out of life that they can. My co -host, as always,
Charlene, our very own licensed clinical social
worker certified in the state of Florida, joining
us this week with a conversation about HIPAA,
the good and the bad, and so much more on this
edition of the Light Keepers Podcast. And before
we start, please leave your questions or comments
below. We always love to hear from you. Questions
this week are going to be answered during our
next show that appears online every Wednesday
evening at 7 p .m. Eastern. The Light Keepers
podcast is an exclusive production of A Guiding
Light Incorporated. We'll tell you a little bit
more about A Guiding Light at the end of the
podcast. But since we don't have much time, we're
going to make this a little bit shorter show
this week. Let's get right into this week's conversation
about HIPAA, the good and the bad. Let's start
off with telling folks what HIPAA is. H -I -P
-A -A. Correct. Not H -I -P -P -A, which is how
I usually misspell it. Always mess that up. So
what is H -I -P -A -A? What is that? So that
is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act. And yes, I did have to look that up. Okay.
So now we know what the letters mean. What does
it mean? So HIPAA is basically a rule, a law
that was passed in 1996 that says... Simply,
no one can share your personal health information
without your permission. Right. Now, this is
a good thing because what this means is, for
example, doctor's offices cannot share your information
without your written consent with anybody. Anybody.
They have to have your written consent to be
able to share that information. And it's one
of those many forms that you fill out when you
check into a hospital. And most doctor's offices
have you fill that out when you're signing in.
Even in your primary care physician, they're
going to have you sign a HIPAA form. Correct.
So that's what that's all about is who you'll
share your information with, who they can share
your information with. and it is an important
rule it does have um it does have a good place
in society or at least a certainly well -intended
place because it does protect vulnerable populations
for example if you have someone who is a victim
of domestic violence well now their partner is
not going to have access to their health information
so whatever they share with their doctor is going
to be private And so that can be a source of
protection for them. So that's a good thing.
However, and this is where it gets complicated
because HIPAA can also be restrictive. Oh, really?
For example, we recently did a show about family
members with memory care issues. So if you have
someone in your family that you're trying to
help with their medical care, guess what? You're
not going to be able to do anything for them
if they have not. given their doctor's office
permission to talk to you. Just something as
simple as scheduling an appointment can't happen.
Okay, so HIPAA can be restrictive. It's made
to be restrictive for perfectly good reasons.
But there are times, I guess, when it might hold
back the necessity of making... Even appointments?
Yeah, something as simple as that. So when I
think of HIPAA, I think of bars on windows, okay?
Bars on windows in a rough neighborhood. They're
put there for protection. But what happens if
a fire breaks out on the inside? So they've also
just restricted you from exiting. So the same
thing that can protect you can also imprison
you. And I think that's what HIPAA does a lot
of times. maybe more often than not. Well, and
that's an important thing then. That's why we
wanted to bring this conversation to the podcast.
And I guess the important question to ask is,
what could we do about that? What would be the
best way to have all of those good restrictions
in place, but at the same time, allow for the
people who, even over time, might change, but
might need to be able to access your knowledge
your information so one of the real only ways
that you can get around hipaa is by having an
advanced directive which i know we talk about
a lot here on the show but hipaa is one of the
reasons why having an advanced directive is so
important part of an advanced directive is identifying
who you trust to make medical decisions for you
That's also known as a medical power of attorney.
Now, just to be clear, a medical power of attorney
does not have control of your finances or property
or anything like that. Purely medical. Medical
power of attorney. But with that document in
hand, that person would be able to assist you
with your medical care. So they would be able
to contact the doctor's office to maybe get those
test results or schedule that appointment. Now,
that's an important question. If they have the
medical power of attorney, but you have not added
them to a HIPAA form with the doctor or the hospital,
giving them the authority, that's not a person
that's listed, but they have medical power of
attorney. Does it override that HIPAA restriction?
It does. Okay. It does. But here's a very important
distinction. So a lot of people... are intimidated
by having a medical power of attorney form because
they might feel like it gives someone else control
over their medical care. And there's a very important
thing to understand about a medical power of
attorney. As long as you are in your right mind,
if you have not been deemed incapacitated by
a medical professional, your wishes will always
overrule anybody else's whether they are a medical
power of attorney or not doesn't that have to
go through a judge as well in most cases not
always not always if a doctor determines that
someone no longer has capacity usually that is
enough to activate that medical power of attorney
but but if that person has not been deemed incapacitated
and they have a medical power of attorney and
say for example They and their medical power
of attorney disagree on a course of treatment.
What they want is going to happen because they
still have decision -making authority. Okay.
Well, that's an important thing to know. So the
only thing at that point that that medical power
of attorney would authorize would be for that
individual to support. your decision so for example
if they needed to schedule appointments if they
needed to get results if they needed to authorize
treatment if they needed to maybe transfer records
from one medical facility to another those are
things they would be able to do on your behalf
and when you have a primary care physician or
a care caring doctor at your hospital It's very
likely specialists are going to need to be consulted
and your information is going to need to be shared.
Absolutely. So they need to have that authority.
And if they do not, someone needs to be able
to provide it on your behalf. So this is all
important. Again, planning ahead is critical
to getting the very best quality of life, no
matter where you are in life, young, old. Planning
for the beginning or the end, you still have
to make plans. And it can be something, I mean,
this crops up in day -to -day living. For example,
I have a family member who is autistic. High
-functioning, you'd never know it just by talking
to them, but they struggle with phone calls.
They're not comfortable on the phone. They don't
like making calls. They don't like receiving
calls. You know, I'm one of those people, too.
Phone calls. Yeah, I don't like them either.
But the thing is, this individual has trouble
calling the pharmacy and getting refills on his
medication. Well, guess what? Because of HIPAA,
nobody can help him. Really? Yeah, because of
HIPAA, nobody can step in and help him. Unless
he gives that authorization, unless he has that
medical power of attorney, nobody can step in
and help him with these things that he struggles
with because of HIPAA. And that could happen
to anyone at any, well, you spend your entire
life with some of those conditions. So that could
be happening to someone far younger or older
and still have issues with communication. Absolutely.
Communication can be a very... difficult thing
for some people. In today's day and age, one
of the things that is very common, and it's an
unspoken thing that a lot of people have, but
they don't realize they have it in common with
most of America, and that is high levels of anxiety.
And sometimes that anxiety is social anxiety,
and it can make getting on the telephone for
some people debilitating. And for those people,
something as simple as calling in a prescription,
calling in for a refill on that prescription,
calling the doctor's office to make an appointment,
these can become huge obstacles to care because
they have trouble being on the phone. And HIPAA
makes it difficult for people to step in and
support them. Well, I know how much difficulty
I have at a fast food drive -up window. You know
that too. Incredible anxiety. I always have to
do the ordering. Just about the time I'm pulling
up to the window and rolling down my window to
speak to the speaker, I have a complete panic
attack. What am I ordering? I mean, I'm a broadcaster.
You would think I'd be able to talk to a speaker.
No. Who wants what? How much of what? Large,
medium, extra large, supersize me? I don't know.
I go into a complete overload. And just for grins
and giggles, I order the extra pickles just to
tailspin you. But it's an example of anyone at
any stage in life with any training as a communications
professional can have a panic attack or have
difficulty communicating even something as simple
as an order at a fast food window. And you know,
maybe it has nothing to do with anxiety or...
autism maybe it's just a migraine a sinus infection
a cold didn't get a good meal the day before
your nutritional balance is a little we were
talking about that a few weeks ago nutrition
can change your entire cognitive picture it can
be a bad day where you or or bad not just not
getting enough good nutrition but maybe eating
that Food that was left out at room temperature
too many hours the day before gives you a bad
headache the next day. And there you go, having
difficulty communicating what you need to. So
these are all important things to think about.
And so that HIPAA protection can also be a restriction.
And that's why it's so important to make sure
that with your medical providers, with your doctor's
offices, with your pharmacies, that you have
the right people listed as being able to make
those decisions for you, make those appointments
for you, and get that information on your behalf.
Absolutely. That way, no matter what happens,
you're covered. Absolutely. So HIPAA, it's a
good thing? It can be a bad thing. You never
know. It's your situation. Everyone's situation
is unique, and that's what we always say here
on the show, that it's a highly personal choice.
No conversation that you hear on the Light Keepers
podcast should do anything except inspire you
to do a little more research, find out some more
information that... has more to do with your
specific situation. You should always look to
your own medical care team or other professional
advisor who should be consulted by you on your
specific, unique situational needs. And it's
always good to be willing to talk about quality
of life because every single one of us will face
some of these issues someday and you'll either
not be prepared at all or really very well prepared
indeed. From joining us here, Every Wednesday
evening at 7 p .m. on the Light Keepers podcast.
This is an exclusive production of Vanimation
Studios brought to you by A Guiding Light, a
501c3 nonprofit organization. They're dedicated
to informing and educating professionals and
the public, informed preparation for living the
very best life possible. and the mission of a
guiding light is to provide education for professionals
and information for everyone else about life
planning available guidance and counseling that
helps individuals and their family navigate options
like that improves the quality of their remaining
days. The organization is committed to training
professionals through scholarship grants when
needed who will help you find the best information
and options to meet your needs that are unique
and individual to you and available in your area
so you can be aware of those choices and confident
in your decisions and at peace that you've made
the best decisions to live life. on your own
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So from all of us here. who have HIPAA well in
hand. We'll see you next time on the Light Keepers
podcast.