Catherine Boerner (cboerner@boernerconsultingllc.com) is President at Boerner Consulting, LLC located in New Berlin, WI.
In most states, if not all, the Healthcare Power of Attorney (POA) document, when it has been activated, allows the person designated POA to request, review, and receive medical records and consent to the disclosure of this information. However, what happens after a patient dies? Staff have to be prepared to ensure the release of information of a decedent’s records is done appropriately, because HIPAA protects these records for 50 years after death.[1]