Joey Wahler (Host): It is important to arrange ahead of time, so we're
discussing proxies and access to medical records for your children.
Our guests from Woodlawn Hospital, Brooke, nice.
She's Health Information Management Director and Dr.
Jar Feldman, a pediatrician.
This is Woodlawn Health Doc talk.
Thanks for joining us.
I am Joey Wahler Brooke, Dr.
Feldman.
Welcome.
Brooke Nice: Thank you for having me.
Dr Jerrod Feldman: Good to hear from you.
Joey Wahler (Host): Great to have you both with us.
So first for you, Brooke, what exactly for those unfamiliar in a nutshell
is a medical proxy as it relates to a platform like MyChart, which some
joining us are probably familiar with.
Brooke Nice: Yeah, I'd love to answer that for you.
So proxy access allows those such as parents, legal, guardians, spouses.
Other types of individuals that have healthcare power of attorney, for
example, to log into their personal MyChart account And then connect to
the medical information for the patient they are caring for and represent.
Joey Wahler (Host): And Doctor, from your experience, why is a medical proxy
for children so beneficial on your end?
Dr Jerrod Feldman: I've had experiences with parents who were very happy to
be able to go back later and look at instructions that we might have put in
the charting regarding an issue with a patient or be able to review things like.
data such as growth charts in percentiles or instructions that were given.
And they can also use it to message so they can reach out and leave a
message that they want to schedule an appointment or ask when maybe they
should follow-up with someone, or just a general question that it's much easier to
access and do it more on their schedule and not have to worry about trying to.
Catch a phone when somebody's calling and connect when they're at work.
Joey Wahler (Host): Gotcha.
And so Brooke, who exactly can become a medical proxy?
Brooke Nice: So there are multiple different types of
proxies that we do allow.
So biological parents, adoptive parents, permanent guardians, for
example, with proper authorization.
From the patient or legal guardian, especially for minors.
Other accepted proxies could include maybe a neighbor, a adult child for
a parent, grandparents, stepparents.
Those are all different types of examples of proxies.
Joey Wahler (Host): And so, doctor, it sounds as though before we go any
further, it's not so much important who the proxy is, as long as someone is right.
Dr Jerrod Feldman: Absolutely.
we have some wonderful grandparents who are very involved in their grandchildren's
life and parents are busy at work and it allows them to be basically
performing a vital function there, whether that be, through the proxy and.
accessing the medical record or even just bringing the kids to appointments,
but it's definitely helpful when this system gets set up so that we can
have a seamless way of communicating and passing along information.
Joey Wahler (Host): Because sometimes the information
you're dealing with, am I right?
Doctor means having to make a, a split decision, right?
Dr Jerrod Feldman: Oh, there's lab results.
There are various different, imaging results from x-rays, things like that.
So, it helps us interact with the families and I found in my use of this system
that it's very useful when we get a result or something that we be able to.
Forward that information to a family member, And then they can reply and let
us have an update on how the patient's doing or have more available access
to get information back to us as the condition of the patient changes.
Joey Wahler (Host): And so Brooke, what do parents need to become a proxy?
Brooke Nice: So for parents to become a proxy, there's, proper authorization
forms that we have to have filled out.
This is to protect the patient's privacy and our federal and state requirements.
depending on the type of access that they're requesting And the
age group of the individual or the patient, determines what type of
forms we have to have filled out.
Joey Wahler (Host): And Brooke, there are two proxies specifically
for the ages of 14 through 17.
Right.
Brooke Nice: Correct.
So this age group is protected separately, depending on, the type of access so
they can consent to certain treatments.
Without mom or dad's or legal guardian's, authorization.
And so in that case, we do have two different types of access.
There's a limited access, And that does limit, the ability to see things
like medications, appointments, some very protected information if that
age group is consenting to treatment on their own, with the full access,
that limited access goes away.
So they're able to see the entire chart, the medications, those extra
protections, that we put in place.
Joey Wahler (Host): Dr.
Felman, anything to add there?
Dr Jerrod Feldman: I think it's something that as long as the parents are able
to call the office, ask questions, it's a simple enough procedure.
It just takes some stepwise, work to get through it.
And I've had a lot of people that have been signing up
recently and it's really been a.
Benefit to the parents And the practice really appreciates it too because
it makes it easier for the nurses to navigate some of the information flow.
Joey Wahler (Host): And speaking of which doctor, maybe talk to us please
about the fact that you know as well as anyone, both of you do, that many
patient's and their loved ones, they have an aversion to filling things out, right?
Whether it be old school paperwork in-person or stuff ahead of time online.
What would you say to those who say al worry about it when the time comes?
Dr Jerrod Feldman: To be honest with you, this process actually may make their
lives better in the sense of how this all works because we've even been able to
use this for things as simple as school notes because protected health information
has a lot of regulation and it's.
Very difficult for us to forward that information.
And it's not just as simple as providing a note to the school.
We have to provide it to somebody who, in this case being the proxy,
we can attach it to their MyChart account and send it to the parent And
then they can take it to the school.
And we don't have to worry about trying to get confirmation of,
guardianship, things like that.
Every single phone call, this sort of is more of a blanket coverage,
So, it actually makes their lives a little bit simpler and easier.
Joey Wahler (Host): And along those lines, Brooke, I guess one key here is
the fact that electronically nowadays, this enables a patient's record, a
minor's record to travel with them, so to speak, so that if anyone such
as parents or guardians isn't present, they don't necessarily need to be right.
Brooke Nice: They don't necessarily need to be present.
Now, part of That is the access to the MyChart.
So in that age group of 14 to 17 year olds, with the full access,
the team can actually have access to their own MyChart account.
so they can travel with their chart.
Your age group of zero to 13 year olds, they can't have
access to their own MyChart.
So that's where that proxy really comes into play.
where if you have a grandparent who has proxy access and they go on vacation
with their grandparents, often this becomes beneficial in case there's an
emergency while they're on vacation, they have access to those types of records.
Joey Wahler (Host): Gotcha.
So Brooke, is there anyone that cannot become a proxy?
Brooke Nice: There are, so temporary custody, situations
cannot have proxy access.
we can't monitor these types of access.
And so we cannot allow that access.
Joey Wahler (Host): So, it needs to be a stable, ongoing situation
in terms of guardianship.
Yes.
Brooke Nice: Yes, That is correct.
Dr Jerrod Feldman: So from my standpoint, it's often a situation of we have a
number of children we take care of who are in the foster care system,
and unfortunately, a foster care parent is a temporary guardianship
and would not fit under a proxy.
Joey Wahler (Host): Understood.
How about, can you talk on the adult child proxy and how it
might help an aging parent?
Brooke?
Brooke Nice: Sure an adult child can become a.
A proxy for an aging parent in two ways.
So the first way is the parent can actually go into their MyChart and
through the Sharing hub, in the MyChart app, they can invite their
family and friends to be proxies.
As long as those family and friends are over the age of 18, they
can send them the link, they can sign up and it's pretty seamless.
Now, if.
the patient's are like my parents and are technically challenged.
we can also have them fill out the forms And then we can send
that link, directly to that proxy.
Joey Wahler (Host): And Dr.
Feldman, I wonder how often do you run across a situation where an
adult child proxy comes into play?
Dr Jerrod Feldman: I think This is one of those situations where, If they can
be present for things like appointments or speak to the doctor, it's really
useful, but that isn't always possible given busy schedules and whatnot.
So if it's something where a person can be a proxy and go back later to
look at lab results with the family member, or look at their office visit
information, or what is the follow-up appointments, things like that, it
gives them a wonderful bit of access.
To be able to be involved but not have to be present physically for everything
that happens, and I think that's a really useful thing in this busy day and age.
Joey Wahler (Host): Absolutely.
And a couple of other things.
One being.
As you two know, so much of good healthcare nowadays is about
prevention, screening, doing things before it's too late, and it seems
as though, Brooke, this falls into that category in a sense, right?
Brooke Nice: Absolutely having proxy access, um, just like Dr.
Feldman stated, makes things a lot more seamless.
when you have adult children that maybe live out of state, but they are still
involved in, their Parents' healthcare, this allows them to still maintain that
knowledge of what's happening with their parents and, their providers without
actually being at those appointments.
That information is, right there at their fingertips.
I know when I go to the provider, and even just in my own MyChart, you know, you go
over a lot of information and sometimes you don't remember everything when you
leave, so you can access it right then.
Joey Wahler (Host): In summary for both of you, what's the main takeaway
you want for those joining us today?
Doctor?
Dr Jerrod Feldman: I think it's really important to be able to
have some of this information.
Later.
Appointments can be a little confusing or.
It's a lot of information possibly to take in at once, and it's really helpful
as a caregiver to be able to go back and revisit some of that information.
And likewise, it also gives a little bit of access to be able to communicate
back with the provider's office.
And I think it helps in a lot of different ways, and I feel like in our
office, we're already seeing a lot of the benefits, even though we've been
only in this system for a few months, we're already seeing increasing amounts
of benefits we hadn't predicted.
Joey Wahler (Host): Brooke.
Brooke Nice: Sure.
I think the biggest thing from my perspective in protecting
patient's information.
Is, although there are forms that have to be filled out, you fill
them out one time and that it's all you have to do with that.
And then you have access to these medical records.
Whereas if you were to come and get physical copies of medical records,
you have to fill out a form every single time to get physical copies.
This way it's at your fingertips.
You can have multiple people involved in your care and have access to your
records without having to jump through all of the other hoops that we require.
as we're protecting the patient's information So, it becomes very seamless.
Even though at the beginning there's some forms to fill out.
Joey Wahler (Host): And finally here, Brooke, since, as you know,
some of this can be confusing at times to people, what's a good
place to start for those joining us, saying, okay, I am ready to do this.
What's a good place to reach out and get started?
Brooke Nice: Absolutely.
we welcome all of the questions.
so please call the medical records department.
Our phone number is five seven four two two four.
1 1 4 0 and we're open eight to four 30 Monday through Friday, And we are here
to help those navigate this new process.
Joey Wahler (Host): And doctor, I guess the bottom line for you is anything that
helps for you to just get to work doing it, what you do best, which is helping
and healing, that's a good thing, right?
Dr Jerrod Feldman: Absolutely.
I think that being able to retain the information from the office visit, go
back and revisit things is always a useful tool of having the, tool belt.
And I think once parents get a little more comfortable with this
technology, it'll be secondhand.
Joey Wahler (Host): Yeah, it's amazing nowadays how you can have records sent so
easily electronically through things like MyChart, where it used to involve fact.
And that now seem kind of prehistoric, right?
Dr Jerrod Feldman: Absolutely.
it's definitely.
Become a really beneficial item.
I could give many examples of patient's who are seen at multiple
other providers and I was able to communicate through MyChart actually.
and through the system, a specialist out of state for a very complex patient, and
there was multiple different providers in the conversation, and mom was
included in that because she had MyChart.
Joey Wahler (Host): And that's exactly what we're talking about.
That's what This is all about.
Well, folks, we trust you are now more familiar with proxies
and access to medical records.
Brooke, Dr.
Feldman, keep up all your great work and thanks so much again.
Brooke Nice: Thank you.
Dr Jerrod Feldman: Have a good day.
Joey Wahler (Host): You too.
And for more information folks, please visit wood juan health.org.
If you found this podcast helpful, please do share it on your social media.
I am Joey Wahler, and thanks so much again for being part
of Wood Juan Health Doc talk.