checking in
Speak up if you don’t
understand any form
you’ve been asked to sign.
What About
Advance Directives?
wHat tHey are: Advance directives
(ADs) are legal documents, such as
a living will or a durable power of
attorney for healthcare, that tell the
hospital how you want to be treated
if you can’t speak for yourself. A
living will details what measures—
such as life support and resuscita-
tion—you want taken to sustain
your life, or not taken. A durable
power of attorney for healthcare
lets you appoint someone to make
decisions about your care.
wHy tHey can be confuSing:
Healthcare decisions aren’t always
cut-and-dried and no single
Sign Here
document can cover every possibil-
ity. Your loved ones and medical
staff might have to interpret your
A quick guide to important hospital paperwork by amy brayfield
wishes—and they may not always
agree. In some cases, an AD may
if you’re baffled by all the forms and wHy it can be confuSing: Consent not be honored because no one
papers that are part of a typical hospi- forms are often written in language so knows it exists.
tal stay, you’re not alone. Some 90 mil- complex and medical that only about wHat to do: Complete an AD and
lion Americans said they were confused 22 percent of people can understand give copies to your healthcare team
by the way health information is pre- it, found researchers at the Agency for and family. To be sure the form is
sented, according to a 2004 report by Healthcare Research and Quality. “If legally correct for your state, go to
the Institute of Medicine. Hospital you don’t understand the consent form, caringinfo.org/stateaddownload.
paperwork in particular can contain you could misinterpret the benefits
jargon that makes you wish you’d been and risks of the procedure,” says Tait.
to medical school. “Healthcare forms wHat to do: Ask questions. Be sure For example, health insurers and most
can be difficult for the average person you completely understand the test or doctors are bound by HIPAA to keep
to understand,” agrees Alan Tait, Ph.D., treatment’s likely outcome and any your medical data private; this includes
director of clinical research in the Uni- recovery time, as well as its risks and what’s in your medical record; conver-
versity of Michigan Health System’s the responsibilities you have as a pa- sations about you your doctor has with
department of anesthesiology, in Ann tient afterward. Keep asking until you other providers, such as nurses; billing
Arbor. “But it’s incredibly important feel comfortable that you understand information; and information in your
for people to understand before they what to expect. health insurance company’s records.
sign.” Here, a short guide to some im- But others, such as employers, life in-
portant forms, so you know exactly Privacy Forms surance companies and city and state
what you’re putting your signature to. wHat it iS: HIPAA, the Health Insur- agencies, are not required under
ance Portability and Accountability HIPAA to protect your health data.
Informed Consent Act, helps protect your private medical wHat to do: You can ask your pro-
wHat it iS: Before you undergo a sur- information. When you sign the HIPAA vider to clarify who is allowed to see
gery, test or treatment, your doctor form you’re giving your caregivers per- your information. To learn more, visit
should talk you through the reasons mission to access your health informa- the Department of Health and Human
e
d
for doing it, the risks and the expected tion and share it with other doctors Services’ Health Information Privacy
a
t
r
outcome. At the end of your conversa- and specialists treating you. page at hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/un-
p
o
r
o
tion she’ll ask you to sign an informed wHy it can be confuSing: It’s not al- derstanding/index.html. tp
c

i
n
consent form, indicating that you un- ways clear exactly how your medical amy brayfield is a health and lifestyle
e
e
r

v
derstand what she’s explained. info will be shared and with whom. writer living in Atlanta. ©
8 the patient magazine 2010
PT008__0FVP0_SP10DEPTcheckin.indd 8 2/9/10 7:58 AM
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