If I am my mom's durable Power of Attorney, can I receive her medical records?

What the doc's are probably wanting is a HIPAA waiver signed off by your mom.
HIPAA (which is a public law) has a whole privacy section which limits what health and personal info that anyone can have access to on another person. HIPAA enforcement is relatively recent - about the past 5 years. There probably isn't a HIPAA waiver in your mom's files, so therefore no access.

Nowadays when you go to a doc's office or hospital, there should be a "Notice of Privacy Practice" and a "Patient Authorization for Disclosure" form they (your mom) will need to sign off on in order for anyone to get information on their health. Many doc's offices have you do one every time you have an appt. But some don't or it get's lost, etc. For hospital admissions, they (your mom) might not have been cognitive/capable to sign HIPAA so it's not in her chart. So no access for you!


IMHO you should have the following done and keep handy:
- Durable Power of Attorney (not just POA and not a "springing" POA)
- Medical Power of Attorney

- Living Will &/or Advance Directives (DNR)
- Declaration of Guardian in Event of Incapacity

- HIPAA Waiver

- Will or a Living Trust

Good Luck.

Admins, please take down the personal info.

Lmsfmom, this is a site for caregiver support. You need to be in touch with mom's medical providers to address this issue.

I'm pretty sure you have the right to talk to the doctor.

Durable Power of Attorney "DPOA": There are two types:
General or Limited:
General means you can handle financial and health care issues.
Limited may limit a person to make decissions either it financial, healthcare, or anything else.
Which one do you have? Hopefully it is "General".
Other than that I agree with IGLOO572.

It is impossible to answer this question fully without looking at the document. Some POAs give you the power and some do not. There are limited POAs and lgeneral ones. May I suggest that you read the document and ask the physician what is the problem. Some of them seem to think that they are lawyers. but maybe there is something in the records that trouble him. How about a compromise? Sit down with the physician and discus your dad's needs. Do you really need to know everything pertaining to your dad?

Depending on your state, it is advisable to also have a Health Surrogate or Medical POA form. This is very important so you do not have other family members trying to dictate or intervene. You can download any of these from a lot of web sites. I recommend Legal Zoom.

My mother needs medical records, (ALL, including but not limited to: LAB, CT,medical notes, etc.,) so that she can get help to pay on her prescription. It is costing her over $600 a month. She HAS to have it but the FDA blames the insurance and vise-versa for not allowing it into their formulary. She has had TWO well known specialists confirm she has to stay on this, and she writes down each dose she takes. Thanks. Leda

I was my mother's Durable Power of Attorney that included medical decisions. My mother still had to sign a HIPPA Waiver for me to have access to her medical records.