Task: Fill Out A HIPAA Authorization Form

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The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, better known as HIPAA, was put in place to allow medical institutions to share a patient’s medical data while protecting their privacy.

When you fill out an authorization form, which you may have done so your records can be shared among your providers, it allows those people access to those files. You can also do this so a person in your life can view them as well.

This is specifically helpful for:

Adult children caring for their parents
Parents whose kids are going to college
Anyone named as a Health Care Proxy, which was covered in this task

The Task

Find the form by Googling “HIPAA authorization form” for your state. Once you find your state’s form, it should be filled out and given to a doctor or medical institution who holds the records you want to be accessible. To play it safe, it’s best to consult a doctor first to make sure you’re doing it correctly so anyone helping provide you care has access to the records they need.