Tex.
Health & Safety Code Section 317.002
Designation of Caregiver
(a)
On admission to a hospital or before the patient is discharged or transferred to another facility, the hospital shall provide the patient, the patient’s legal guardian, or the patient’s surrogate decision-maker the opportunity to designate a caregiver.(b)
If a patient, a patient’s legal guardian, or a patient’s surrogate decision-maker designates a caregiver, a hospital shall:(1)
document in the patient’s medical record:(A)
the name, telephone number, and address of the patient’s designated caregiver; and(B)
the relationship of the designated caregiver to the patient; and(2)
request written authorization from the patient, the patient’s legal guardian, or the patient’s surrogate decision-maker to disclose health care information to the patient’s designated caregiver.(c)
If a patient, a patient’s legal guardian, or a patient’s surrogate decision-maker declines to designate a caregiver, the hospital shall promptly record in the patient’s medical record that the patient, the patient’s legal guardian, or the patient’s surrogate decision-maker did not wish to designate a caregiver.(d)
If a patient, a patient’s legal guardian, or a patient’s surrogate decision-maker declines to give authorization to a hospital to disclose health care information to the designated caregiver, a hospital is not required to comply with Sections 317.003 (Notice to Designated Caregiver) and 317.004 (Discharge Plan).(e)
A patient, a patient’s legal guardian, or a patient’s surrogate decision-maker may change the patient’s designated caregiver at any time, and the hospital must document the change in the patient’s medical record.(f)
The designation of a person as the patient’s caregiver does not obligate the person to serve as the patient’s designated caregiver or to provide aftercare to the patient.
Source:
Section 317.002 — Designation of Caregiver, https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/HS/htm/HS.317.htm#317.002 (accessed Jun. 5, 2024).
