A Day in the Life of a Not-So-Secret Agent (Part 1)

I have a couple of clients for whom I serve as agent under their health care proxies and powers of attorney. A couple of days last week found me acting as agent for them.  I thought I'd post a composite sketch as a example, both for those people who may be serving as agent (now or in the future) and for others to show the importance of having the legal documents which allowed me to carry out my duties.Client profile (all details changed, obviously): 70 year old man with no immediate family. Had been living at home and recently fell. Due to complications he had been bouncing between the hospital, rehabilitation hospital and home and was back at the rehab hospital.  There was a case management meeting that morning and some other business for he and I to discuss.10:00 a.m.  Location: my office. I was preparing my traveling bag since I knew I'd be out of the office most of the day.  Let's take a look inside the bag:

1. Original health care proxy, power of attorney & HIPAA medical release form.
2. 2 copies of each of these documents.
3. Hand sanitizer. Clients (and other patients) at a hospital or rehab are always more susceptible to illness than other people, so I always make sure to carry hand sanitizer and we skip the handshakes.
4. Short sleeve shirt, which was on me, not in the bag. Nursing homes and rehabs often have the heat turned up higher than is comfortable for me in long sleeves, so I always make sure to wear short sleeves when visiting.
5. Business cards & pens.

11:00 a.m.  Location: Post Office. Picked up client's mail from his PO Box.  Filled out a temporary change of address card (signing it as agent under the power of attorney) to have his mail forwarded to my office since it looks like he's going to be in the rehab hospital for at least a month.  The post office supervisor took the original and a copy of the power of attorney into the back room for about 15 minutes to review it.  Finally, she returned and gave me back the documents and said she'd process the address change.12:00 p.m. Location: Rehab hospital.I arrived at the rehab hospital and signed in. My client was in his room (with two roommates) and due to his condition we couldn't go into an office or conference room.  We did our best to preserve privacy by pulling the curtain, but there were still a few people coming and going.  They were involved in their own business and my client said he felt comfortable going over his mail and bills.We reviewed his mail, wrote out some checks to pay bills that had come in and talked about his health insurance benefits. His stay was currently being covered by Medicare, but we needed to know about his health insurance coverage.  I had faxed a copy of the HIPAA form to the insurance company earlier that day, so I called and requested that they mail me a copy of his benefit booklet.The nursing manager, social worker, occupational therapist and physical therapist arrived for the care plan meeting.  They requested copies of the health care proxy and HIPAA release for my client's file and so they could speak to me later if I called.  The nurse reviewed his medical condition and prognosis, the rehab therapists reviewed what had been going on with his rehabilitation and the social worker talked about his insurance benefits and their plan if it appeared that his benefits were running out.It looks like he'll be able to start some rehab on his legs, but will need to wait for clearance from his doctor after his visit next week before he can start walking again.  He'll need someone to escort him to the hospital for his doctor's visit so we arranged for a nursing assistant (CNA) to accompany him on his visit.We finished up our visit, I signed out of the facility and headed to lunch.Tune in tomorrow for the further adventures of the not-so-secret agent....