The Student Legal Services office is available to assist students with healthcare planning, also known as advance care planning. Making arrangements for your own care in advance of the unthinkable is a process that can help students and their loved ones in understanding, communicating, and memorializing their values, goals and preferences for future medical care (that is hopefully never needed).
Advance Care Planning is beneficial for everyone – the young, the old, the healthy and the sick - at all stages of life. It helps people memorialize and communicate their personal values, life goals, and preferences regarding future medical treatment and end of life care. It is a gift that can give your loved one’s some peace of mind in an emergency, knowing that they are honoring your wishes as they make medical decisions regarding your care.
Advance care planning requires learning about the types of decisions that might need to be made, considering those decisions ahead of time, and then communicating those decisions to others (including both your family and your healthcare providers). It is often summarized in four simple steps: think, talk, choose, complete.
The first step in the advance care planning process is to think about the types and extent of care you would want. It is often uncomfortable to think about being very sick or badly injured and nearing the end of your life. But if the unimaginable occurred, would your loved ones know what kinds of care and treatment you would prefer?
The best time to talk to your loved ones about the kind of care you would want is now. Even though it may be hard at first, having the conversation about the care you’d want before you need it is better for everyone.
HIPAA Authorization is a waiver of liability that allows a medical record holder to disclose otherwise protected health information. HIPAA releases allow patients to authorize their healthcare provider to release private medical records and information to another person of the patient’s choosing. They allow doctors, nurses, hospitals, laboratory technicians, and other health care providers to release protected health information (PHI), such as X-rays, laboratory and pathology reports, diagnoses, prescriptions, and other medical information, without further legal liability for releasing the information in accordance with the waiver.
The Student Legal Services Family Planning for HealthCare clinic will offer assistance completing HIPAA Releases for Goddard (OU’s health care clinic), the Norman Regional Health System, and a standard (generic) authorization for general use in the State of Oklahoma.
Allowing the release of your protected health information (PHI) is a completely voluntary decision. Once granted, the permission to disclose PHI is broad. This means that practically all of your private medical records can be subject to disclosure. That could include information related to prescription and non-prescription drug use (legal or illegal), use of birth control, treatment for sexually transmitted disease, etc.
If you are interested in granting permission for others to access your PHI, please complete and return the HIPAA Authorization Intake Form (PDF) to initiate SLS services. The completed form may be emailed to: SLS@ou.edu.
HIPAA releases only require the student’s signature. Email SLS the completed intake form, and you will receive an email with instructions and the required forms to complete on your own. Requires no action on the parent’s part.
A Power of Attorney (POA) is a document that grants another person the authority to act as an agent (“attorney-in-fact”) for the principal. It offers only limited powers which must be expressly stated in the document. POAs are often used to allow the agent to manage the personal business of the principal, such as banking transactions (including deposits and withdrawals) so that the agent can maintain the household and lifestyle of the principal while they are unable to conduct their own affairs.
If you are interested in a Power of Attorney, please complete and return the Intake and Consent Form (PDF) to initiate SLS services. The completed form may be emailed to: SLS@ou.edu.
A Power of Attorney for Healthcare (previously known as Durable Power of Attorney) allows the principal to name another individual as their agent to make health care decisions on behalf of the principal when the principal becomes incapable of making or communicating their own decisions. It also allows the principal to name an alternate agent to act for you if your first choice is not willing, able, or reasonably available to make decisions, so long as those decisions align with:
The POAHC is activated when the principal no longer has capacity (the ability to understand, communicate and make informed decisions about their own care) or whenever the principal determines it should be activated, but only as documented in the POAHC. The POAHC remains in effect even when the principle later becomes incapacitated. Unless the form limits the authority of the agent, the agent will have the power to make all health care decisions for the principal, including:
A POAHC does not authorize the agent to make any life-sustaining treatment decisions, such as withholding or withdrawing nutrition and hydration. These measures may only be authorized in compliance with the Oklahoma Advance Directive Act.
If you are interested in a Power of Attorney for Healthcare, please complete and return the POAHC Intake Form and Instructions (PDF) to initiate SLS services. The completed form may be emailed to: SLS@ou.edu.
After completing the form, it must be signed by the principle in the presence of two witnesses, both of whom are at least 18 years old and not related to the principle nor a person who could inherit from the principle (not a legatee, devisee or heir). The HCPOA no longer has to be notarized to be considered valid.
Give a copy of the signed and completed form to your physician, to any other health care providers you may have, to any health care facility at which you are receiving care, and to any health care agents you have named.
You should talk to the person you have named as agent to make sure that he or she understands your wishes and is willing to take the responsibility. You have the right to revoke this power of attorney for health care or replace this form at any time.
An Advance Directive (also sometimes called a “living will”) is another healthcare planning tool. It is a legal document that an individual (the principal) completes in advance that indicates the kind of care they would want if they were to be in an accident or become seriously ill. An Advance directive allows a the principal to memorialize their own decisions and desires to be relied upon in an emergency, or in end-of-life care situations generally. Advance Directives allow the principal to select whether or not they want life continuing treatment, what type and duration, under what circumstances, etc. Advance Directives also allow the principal to nominate a Healthcare Proxy (similar to an agent with a POAHC) for decision making. Once completed, Advance Directives can be placed in a secured registry established by the State of Oklahoma so that healthcare providers can access the patient's instructions in an emergency.
If you are interested in an Advance Directive, please complete and return the Intake and Consent Form (PDF) form to initiate SLS services. The completed form may be emailed to SLS@ou.edu.
This form is mandatory as it establishes our (limited) attorney-client relationship, which entitles the student-client to confidentiality and privilege. Until the signed and completed form is on-file with the SLS office, no services may be provided, including the initial consultation.
HIPAA Authorization is a waiver of liability that allows a medical record holder to disclose otherwise protected health information. HIPAA releases allow patients to authorize their healthcare provider to release private medical records and information to another person of the patient’s choosing.
A Power of Attorney for Healthcare allows the principal to name another individual as their agent to make health care decisions on behalf of the principal when the principal becomes incapable of making or communicating their own decisions.
The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information. This website contains links to other third-party websites. Such links are only for the convenience of the reader, user or browser; SLS does not recommend or endorse the contents of third-party sites. SLS reserves the right to modify the program, with or without notice.
The SLS program is a department within the Division of Student Affairs.
