How do you get concrete medical information on your family member?

[toasterNova]

How is an immediate family member supposed to get concrete medical information (current medications, diagnosis, status, strategies, alternatives etc.) concerning a loved one's mental health condition, when the patient is an adult and all information is confidential?

Having no spouse, is there something the patient can maybe sign off on to entitle at least one family member to answers. It's beyond frustrating that our whole family is completely out of the loop, and all we've got to go on is the word of my brother, who, being the medicated, mentally ill patient, isn't in the best condition to be communicating accurately.

Thank you.

[suki44883]

Depending on the facility, there is an information form that the patient can sign allowing the facility to give information to certain people. It is entirely up to the patient who is on the list.

[best]

Past the paper signed or a medical will for the living... a court order if a person is found to be incompident is the only other way.
As for trying to get a court order....They would just about need be commited to be found incompident. We all have rights and the courts do their best to keep it that way. A bad day does not make one incompident.

[historyteach]

Have you asked your brother to sign a paper lifting the confidentiality from the doctor? He may be willing to. If not, you have only his word, unless he is deemed incompetent, and that's not too likely to happen.
Ask. The worst he can say is no.

Shalom!

[Serenity8]

I highly recommend looking into NAMI (National Alliance of the Mentally Ill). They teach a 12 week course called Family to Family for family members of mentally ill people. One of the topics they cover is rights of families and patient advocacy.

You can go to NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness to find a local chapter and see if this course is being offered near you. Good luck!

[Emimily]

tracee's right - there has to be a release on file that's signed by your brother okaying it for the hospital (or staff, etc.) to talk to you and your family. i work at a mental health hospital, and i can't tell you how many times a day family members call to see if a relative is here and i have to say "we can neither confirm or deny whether a patient is being treated here, it's a national privacy regulation called a hipaa law, but what i can do is take your name and number, call down to the adult units and let them know you're looking for this person." at our facility, patients are responsible for calling their friends and family and letting them know their patient i.d. number. but, that's just us.

good luck, i hope everything works out.

[toasterNova]

Thanks everyone. That was helpful.