Need to Talk With Your Senior’s Doctor? Make it Easier with an ROI
Say your dad is having an usual amount of diarrhea. You’re worried that he might be getting sick, or maybe his medication is not sitting well with him. He says he’s fine, but you notice that he’s been camped out in the closest chair to the bathroom since he woke up. Maybe he doesn’t want medical advice, but you certainly do. How do you go about it to get the results you want? Read on for advice, because it’s not as straightforward as you might think!
Tips for getting in touch with your Senior’s healthcare provider
When you’re looking for guidance about your senior’s care, you want to talk directly to the doctor. I get it, but most likely that’s not going to happen, and at least not at first. The doctor, nurse practitioner, and physician’s assistant are busy and their time is guarded like a rare gem. Getting testy about speaking to the doctor will almost guarantee you will not, and could negatively affect your relationship with the front desk going forward. But there are ways to effectively get your message to them, you just need a few things in place first.
Getting an ROI
Before anyone helps you with anything, they’re going to ask you about an ROI. No, this does not stand for “return on your investment (not a big return in senior caregiving, I can assure you),” In healthcare, ROI means Release of Information - a legal document provided by medical and mental health offices giving permission to speak to someone on behalf of the patient about the patient’s medical concerns (it's a good thing: it helps protect patients' health information).
If you need the ROI quickly and don't want to wait for the next time they an appointment, your senior can usually give verbal permission over the phone for the doctor’s office to talk with you and/or they may have an electronic procedure for getting the Senior’s signature on the ROI form.
One important piece in these privacy laws is that anyone can talk to the doctor about a patient, but without an ROI the doctor cannot disclose information about the patient’s health to people not listed in the ROI. HIPAA laws state that doctors' offices technically cannot even acknowledge if your Senior is a patient in the practice. So if there is no ROI, and you only want to convey information, you should say something like “There is no ROI so I am only looking to tell the doctor something about my mom”
It is important to note that signing an ROI does not necessarily convey carte blanche permissions. Your Senior will often have to initial specific information around mental health information, lab results and possibly more. Also, HIPAA laws require that an ROI only lasts for a year which just means it needs new signatures every year. If you worry your Senior’s cognitive abilities are slipping then it’s time to discuss Power of Attorney (POA)(Link to POA post).
Leave a message
You can call the doctor's office and request to leave a message for them, though they will most likely have you leave the message on their nurse or medical assistant's voicemail. They will often be the one to call you back, after confer with the doctor. Start the message by letting them know that you are listed on the ROI. Again, if you don't have one, you can leave a message giving them the info you'd like them to have, but they won't call you back.
The Patient Portal
Another option is to get on the doctor/patient messaging system often called “the Patient Portal” or something similar. If your Senior has an email address they most likely have been asked to set themselves up on this system by the doctor’s office. If your senior isn’t sure if they’ve connected to this, you can search their email inbox for a message from the doctor, or check on the office website for info on setting it up.
If your Senior has not signed an ROI, you will need to again state that you are with your Senior and you would like to discuss your health concern. Typically what happens next is that the person reading the portal message (oftentimes not the doctor, at least initially) will either have you schedule an appointment, refer you to someone else, or call you.
Long story short: an ROI makes dealing with your senior's health concerns so much easier. It's better to set one up as soon as you can, rather than waiting until you're scrambling during an emergency.
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