Texas Health and Safety Code 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.
Terms Used In Texas Health and Safety Code 317.002
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(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 and 317.004.
(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.