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With your child’s college acceptance now in hand, you can turn your attention to preparing your eighteen year old for this new and exciting stage of life.
You will have a lot to plan for as you prepare to send your “baby” off to school this fall. Making sure that they have the right bedding, dorm supplies and meal plan is all part of that planning.
Once you’ve gotten through the checklists and dropped your “baby” off (with some tears and lots of good advice), the only thing you’ll have left to do is worry. You’ll worry whether your freshman is eating enough, studying enough, and getting enough sleep. While we can’t help with these everyday concerns, we can help with one of the big ones: How will you know if something happens to your son or daughter while away at school?
In most cases, unless your eighteen year old has signed the appropriate legal documents, (i.e. HIPAA release and Health Care Proxy) you might not know. HIPAA, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, was created to help protect patient privacy; but it can mean that you, as the parent of an “adult child”, may not be able to get information about your son or daughter in a medical emergency.
 
This is why your child should sign a HIPAA release before leaving home.
My office can create the HIPAA release and Health Care Proxy your child needs. We can then fax the documents to DocuBank, which will keep them on electronic file. Your child will be provided with an “I.C.E.” (In Case of Emergency) wallet card, with a toll-free number with which a hospital or doctor can obtain the documents by fax. The wallet card also contains allergy information and your name and telephone number.
If your child is brought to a hospital, the I.C.E. service will be activated. The documents will be faxed to the hospital, and I.C.E. will also send you an alert. Since the hospital will have the HIPAA release form before you call, there should be no obstacle to you receiving the information you need.

To find out more about HIPAA or DocuBank I.C.E., please call us 508-429-8888. Let us help you have one less thing to worry about this fall!