HIPAA and Caregiving: How to Get Access to Your Parent’s Medical Information

HIPAA — the federal health privacy law — protects patients’ medical information. It also creates one of the most frustrating experiences in caregiving: calling a parent’s doctor and being told the office can’t speak with you. Here is exactly how to fix that.

What HIPAA Actually Prohibits

HIPAA restricts healthcare providers from sharing a patient’s specific health information — diagnoses, treatment plans, test results, medications — with anyone who isn’t authorized. This includes family members, even adult children and spouses, unless specific authorization exists.

The Solutions

Option 1: Patient-Authorized HIPAA Release The patient signs a HIPAA authorization form provided by the healthcare provider, authorizing named individuals to receive health information. This is specific to the provider who receives it — complete it separately with each major provider and ask that it be placed in the medical record.

Option 2: Healthcare Power of Attorney A healthcare power of attorney automatically grants the designated agent access to the patient’s medical information to the extent needed to make healthcare decisions. Provide a copy to each healthcare provider.

Option 3: Medicare Authorization Medicare maintains its own separate authorization system. A HIPAA release to a provider doesn’t give access to Medicare claims information. The beneficiary must complete Medicare’s Authorization to Disclose Personal Health Information form (CMS-10106), available at medicare.gov.

What to Do Practically

For each primary provider: ask for their HIPAA authorization form, complete it with your loved one while they have capacity, name yourself and other family caregivers, ensure a copy goes into the chart. For the hospital: complete hospital-specific authorization upon admission. For Medicare: complete the CMS-10106 form separately. Get a healthcare POA if you don’t have one — it’s broader, more durable, and more comprehensive than individual HIPAA authorizations.

Ask Danny

Danny says: Getting authorized access to your parent’s medical information is one of the most practically important early steps in caregiving — and much easier to set up before a crisis than during one.

Talk to Danny → Help me get access to my parent’s medical information What legal documents do I need to manage my parent’s care?

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