The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is the legislation that is meant to protect your personal and medical information. Should you head to the hospital or emergency room, HIPAA is meant to regulate what the health care workers from the ambulance EMTs to the doctors and nurses are able to tell others about you and your situation. This is great for privacy, but it makes it very difficult for your pastor and elders to attend to you when you are under medical care, unless you explicitly make known, in writing, that you authorize the medical system to release certain information to your pastor and elders. If you would like to make it easier to receive pastoral care (especially if you have no Christian relatives living nearby), please write a short note which “authorizes the hospital to release of patient location information to the Rev. Phillip K. Lepak, pastor of Our Saviour Evangelical Lutheran Church, and to Mr. Dennis Fritz, an elder of Our Saviour Evangelical Lutheran Church, and requests that hospital contact the aforementioned individuals by telephone to inform them of patient location.” Sign and date the note and then have your doctor’s office include the note in your medical records. If you have any questions about this process or the note, please contact Pr. Lepak.
